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Mechanism of Energy Storage and Transformation in the Mitochondria at the Water–Membrane Interface

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Abstract

In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of generation of membrane-bound protons using different energy sources in model and natural systems. Analysis of these mechanisms revealed that all three types of reactions include the same principal stage, which is dissociation of electrically neutral Brønsted acids at the interface during transition from the hydrophobic phase to water with a low dielectric constant. Special attention is paid to the fact that in one of the analyzed model systems, membrane-bound protons provide energy for the reaction of ATP synthesis. Similar mechanism for the generation of membrane-bound protons has been found in natural membranes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, in particular, on the membranes of mitoplasts and mitochondria. The energy of oxidative reactions required for ATP synthesis, is stored at the intermediate stage not only in the form of transmembrane electrochemical potential of protons, but also and perhaps mostly, as protons attached to the inner mitochondrial membrane. The process of energy storage in mitochondria is linked to the transfer of protons that simultaneously perform two functions. Protons on the membrane surface carry free energy and, at the same time, act as substrates facilitating the movement of F1F0-ATP-synthase biological machine.

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Abbreviations

BLM:

bilayer lipid membrane

OXPHOS:

oxidative phosphorylation

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Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 19-04-00835) and Kurchatov Institute National Research Center (research task “Investigation of generation, transfer, and distribution of energy in live organisms”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, 123182, Moscow, Russia

    Semen V. Nesterov

  2. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 141701, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia

    Semen V. Nesterov & Lev S. Yaguzhinsky

  3. Belozersky Research Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119992, Moscow, Russia

    Elena G. Smirnova & Lev S. Yaguzhinsky

  4. Institute of Cytochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, 115404, Moscow, Russia

    Lev S. Yaguzhinsky

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  1. Semen V. Nesterov
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Correspondence to Lev S. Yaguzhinsky.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest in financial or any other sphere. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Nesterov, S.V., Smirnova, E.G. & Yaguzhinsky, L.S. Mechanism of Energy Storage and Transformation in the Mitochondria at the Water–Membrane Interface. Biochemistry Moscow 87, 179–190 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006297922020092

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