Some people trying to lose weight have gone on the "Atkins diet," in which they eat mostly high-protein, low-carbohydrate foods such as meat, cheese, and eggs. The amino acids in these protein-rich diets, such as alanine, glycine, and serine, can be converted to pyruvate by deamination (removal of the amino group). Based on this scenario as well as your knowledge of cellular respiration, how many ATP, NADH, and FADH2 molecules will be generated from one molecule of alanine during the mitochondrial matrix reactions? Hint: Only consider the reactions from the point at which the alanine carbons enter cellular respiration.
- one FADH2, four NADH, and one ATP
- two FADH2, six NADH, and two ATP
- no FADH2, one NADH, and two ATP
- two FADH2, three NADH, and two ATP
- one FADH2, one NADH, and one ATP