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Definition

noun

A theory postulated by the biochemist Peter Mitchell in 1961 to describe ATP synthesis by way of a proton electrochemical coupling.

Accordingly, hydrogen ions (protons) are pumped from the mitochondrial matrix to the intermembrane space via the hydrogen carrier proteins while the electrons are transferred along the electron transport chain in the mitochondrial inner membrane. As the hydrogen ions accumulate in the intermembrane space, an energy-rich proton gradient is established. As the proton gradient becomes sufficiently intense the hydrogen ions tend to diffuse back to the matrix (where hydrogen ions are less) via the ATP synthase (a transport protein). As the hydrogen ions diffuse (through the ATP synthase) energy is released which is then used to drive the conversion of ADP to ATP (by phosphorylation).

Supplement

This theory was not previously well accepted until a great deal of evidence for proton pumping by the complexes of the electron transfer chain emerged. This began to favor the chemiosmotic hypothesis, and in 1978, Peter Mitchell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Also called: chemiosmotic (coupling) hypothesis

See also: chemiosmosis, mitochondrion