ELI5: kreb’s cycle
// explanation
What is the Krebs cycle?
The Krebs cycle is like a special recycling machine inside your cells that breaks down food to make energy [1][2]. It's also called the citric acid cycle because citric acid is one of the important molecules that gets made during the process [4].
Why does your body need it?
Your cells use the Krebs cycle to pull energy out of the food you eat, kind of like how a power plant gets electricity from fuel [1]. Every living thing that needs to breathe oxygen uses this cycle to stay alive [1].
What happens inside the cycle?
The cycle takes a molecule called pyruvate (which comes from breaking down sugar) and spins it around through eight different chemical steps, picking up energy along the way [2][4]. Each step transforms the molecule into something new, until it eventually comes back around to start again.
Why is it so important?
Without the Krebs cycle, your cells couldn't get the energy they need to do anything—like moving your muscles, thinking, or even just staying warm [2].
// sources
The Krebs cycle is used by organisms that generate energy via respiration, either anaerobically or aerobically (organisms that ferment use different pathways).
Nov 23, 2022 ... The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, also known as the Krebs or citric acid cycle, is an important cell's metabolic hub.
Apr 26, 2020 ... During proinflammatory macrophage activation, there is an accumulation of the Krebs cycle intermediates succinate and citrate, and the Krebs cycle-derived ...
the citric acid cycle, refers to the first molecule that forms during the cycle's reactions—citrate, or, in its protonated form, citric acid ...
Feb 5, 2018 ... Activated dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages have an altered Krebs cycle, one consequence of which is the accumulation of both citrate and ...
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