Debunking chemiosmosis and proposing murburn concept as the operative principle for cellular respiration

Abstract

During cellular respiration, aerobic eukaryotes employ molecular oxygen within the mitochondria, to generate the energy currency of ATP. Chemiosmosis, the long-standing mechanism of mitochondrial oxidative redox metabolism, vouches for the “harnessing of a trans-membrane proton potential” for the synthesis of ATP. Herein, select elements of the chemiosmosis proposal are critically reviewed and debunked. Further, based on simple analogies and structurefunction correlations, murburn concept (connoting to "mured burning” or mild unrestricted burning), the recently established mechanism for microsomal xenobiotic metabolism, is advocated as a probable molecular explanation for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. It is envisaged that the stochastic mechanism of murburn concept could play pivotal roles in several biological redox schemes. The concept necessitates a paradigm shift in mitochondrial biochemistry.