Problem
The poison cyanide binds to the electron transport chain (ETC) protein cytochrome C, and prevents it from accepting an electron. Using your knowledge of respiration, answer the following questions:
1. What affect does cyanide have on the production of energy in poisoned cell? By what mechanism does its effect on cytochrome C disrupt respiration?
2. What would you expect to find if you measured the concentrations of NADH in the mitochondria of the cell soon after cyanide poisoning, and then some time later? If these are different, what mechanism is responsible for the difference?
3. Poisoned cells can live for some time by producing energy through a mechanism that does not require the ETC. What would you expect to see increase in the cytosol of a mammalian cell in response to cyanide poisoning? In a yeast cell?