does not appear to be part of electron transporting pathway within the complex II. The cofactor rather maintains the anchor stability. Mechanism Succinate oxidation Much is known about the succinate oxidation mechanism, which involves the transfer of a protein and a hydride. A combination of mutagenesis and structural analysis identifies Arg-286 of the SDHA subunit (E. coli numbering) as the proton shuttle. Crystal structures of the enzymes from multiple organisms shows that this is well poised for the proton transfer step. Thereafter, there are two possible elimination mechanisms: E2 or E1cb. In the E2 elimination, the mechanism is concerted. The basic residue or cofactor deprotonates the alpha carbon, and FAD accepts the hydride from the beta carbon, oxidizing the bound succinate to fumarate—refer to image 6. In E1cb, an enolate intermediate is formed, shown in image 7, before FAD accepts the hydride. Further research is required to determine which elimination mechanism succinate undergoes in Succinate Dehydrogenase. Oxidized fumarate, now loosely bound to the active site, is free to exit the protein. Electron tunneling After the electrons are derived from succinate oxidation via FAD, they tunnel along the [Fe-S] relay until they reach the [3Fe-4S] cluster. These electrons are subsequently transferred to an awaiting ubiquinone molecule within the active site. The Iron-Sulfur electron tunneling system is shown in image 9. Ubiquinone reduction The O1 carbonyl oxygen of ubiquinone is oriented at the active site (image 4) by hydrogen bond interactions with Tyr83 of subunit D. The presence of electrons in the [3Fe-4S] iron sulphur cluster induces the movement of ubiquinone into a second orientation. This facilitates a second hydrogen bond interaction between the O4 carbonyl group of ubiquinone and Ser27 of subunit C. Following the first single electron reduction step, a semiquinone radical species is formed. The second electron arrives from the [3Fe-4S] cluster to provide full reduction of the ubiquinone to ubiquinol. This mechanism of the ubiquinone reduction is shown in image 8. Heme prosthetic group Although the functionality of the heme in succinate dehydrogenase is still being researched, some studies have asserted that the first electron delivered to ubiquinone via [3Fe-4S] may tunnel back and forth between the heme and the ubiquinone intermediate. In this way, the heme cofactor acts as an electron sink. Its role is to prevent the interaction of the intermediate with molecular oxygen to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). The heme group, relative to ubiquinone,