Pyruvate Oxidation

00:00 Pyruvate oxidation occurs as the molecule passes across the mitochondrial membrane.

00:07 So pyruvate needs to be oxidized a little further in order to pass across the mitochondrial membranes.

00:13 You'll recall that glycolysis is happening out in the cytosol. It's important to keep these locations in line.

00:20 We're tracking a 6 carbon glucose. As we go into pyruvate oxidation, this is the first time we're going to cleave a couple of carbons off.

00:32 In cleaving carbons off, we will also get to pick up a couple more excited electrons with their hydrogen partners and take them off towards the dance.

00:42 The first step in the game is where we have two pyruvate being converted into two acetyl coenzyme As.

00:50 And then we also will see that the carbon dioxide comes off. So for each pyruvate, we have one carbon coming off, so one CO2.

01:03 But we have two pyruvates because glucose had six carbons, and we're tracking carbons. It's important to do this accounting.

01:10 So two 3 carbon pyruvates become to two 2 carbon acetyl CoAs and we lose two CO2s.

01:19 We also produce a couple of full taxis. So NADs will come in, two of them, one per pyruvate, will come in and pick up two sets of electrons and two sets of protons and run them off to the prom or the exciting dance we're going to.