Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

144 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

b2861 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter “6x9”

This fact alone should provide a strong theoretical evidence against the

chemiosmotic model of oxphos and justify replacing it with theoretically

sounder and experimentally better supported (albeit more complex) mod-

els such as the conformon model (Figure 3.29) and the “Rochester–Noji–

Helsinki” (RoNoH) mechanism of oxphos (Figure 3.35).

There are two proton pathways in cytochrome c oxidase as shown in

Figures 3.39 and 3.40: (i) the D-channel involving aspartic acid residue 91

and glutamic acid residue 242 and (ii) the K-channel involving lysine resi-

due 319. The protons flowing through the D-channel can proceed either to

the Proton Loading Site (PLS) above Glu-242 or to the BNC (binuclear

center consisting of heme a 3 and CuB), depending on the redox state of the

BNC (see Figure 3.40a). The D-channel conducts protons across the

membrane, while the K-channel conducts protons to the interior of the

membrane where they are consumed by the water-producing reaction.

Hence we may refer to the D-channel as the proton pump channel and the

K-channel as the proton sink channel. The existence of these two kinds of

proton channels in cytochrome c oxidase (or Complex IV) may have an

unexpected theoretical consequence as regards the validity of the chemi-

osmotic model of oxphos: There is no proton pump channel in Complex

IV, according to the chemiosmotic model, which contradicts the experi-

mental finding of Wikstrὃm et al. [118].

Since the movement of protons through the D- and K-channels is

ultimately driven by the electron flow from the matrix side to the oxygen

molecule located at the a 3 /CuB reaction center, we can refer to the proton

movement through these channels as electron-driven proton transfer

(EDPT) or electron-coupled proton transfer (ECPT), in contrast to the

phenomenon of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) intensely

investigated in chemistry [167, 168, 217]. Also, since there are three

main charged particles involved in mitochondrial energy transduction,

i.e., protons (H+), electrons (e-), and phosphorons (j–) (see [6, 12])

which most likely obey the same laws of physics and chemistry, there

may exist a total of nine coupled processes in mitochondria as predicted

in Table 3.18.

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of bioenergetic processes,

including the nine types of coupled processes listed in Table 3.18, it is

essential to distinguish between different ways of studying the motions of

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