...; Astrid Wietelmann; Pierre Rustin; Frank N. Gellerich; Howard T. Jacobs; Thomas Braun ABSTRACT Plants and many lower organisms, but not mammals, express alternative oxidases (AOXs) that branch the mitochondrial respiratory chain, transferring electrons directly from ubiquinol to oxygen without proton...

... that complex I is unable to efficiently couple electron transfer to proton pumping. Thus, our study provides evidence that the ND2 subunit participates directly in the proton pumping mechanism of complex I. Together, our findings support the model that diminished respiratory chain activity, and consequent...