BRAINCAKEAnaerobic Respiration in Mammals
When oxygen is in short supply, as in muscles during vigorous exercise, the electron transport chain stops because there is no final electron acceptor. Reduced NAD can no longer be reoxidised there, so the link reaction and Krebs cycle also stop.
Glycolysis can still make ATP, but only if NAD is regenerated. In mammals this is done by reducing pyruvate to lactate (lactic acid), catalysed by the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase:
pyruvate + reduced NAD → lactate + NAD
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Key terms in this lesson
- nad
- A coenzyme (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) that acts as a hydrogen acceptor in respiration, becoming reduced when it accepts hydrogen from a substrate.
More in Cellular Respiration
- Hydrogen Acceptors
- Investigating the Rate of Respiration
- Investigating the Site of ATP Synthesis
- Glycolysis
- Lactate
- Sprint Athletes
- Anaerobic Respiration in Plants and Fungi
- Discovery of Glycolysis
All 20 lessons in Cellular Respiration · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics