Purposes and Back-Round of Dinitrophenol

                                                        Elyse Duff

Professor Filer

Lab 07

                                          Purposes and Back-round of Dinitrophenol

        The primary goal of cellular respiration is to produce ATP, this is done by breaking down CO2 and H2O. Cellular Respiration is the most productive way for cells to take energy from the food an organism consumes. Cellular Respiration has three main steps, Glycolysis, Citric Acid Cycle, and Oxidative Phosphorylation. Oxidation Phosphorylation is a operation that begins when electrons pass though several chemical reactions. All of this action takes place in the inner membrane, the same process occurs for both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. The energy is taken from the charged electrons, and then used to generate an electrochemical gradient. ATP is then generated by the potential energy from the gradient. Chemiosmosis is the flow of hydrogen ions, these hydrogen ions ascend across the membrane through ATP synthase. The energy from these electrons, are removed from all the hydrogen atoms. The end product of  chemiosmosis is ATP.

        In 1984 a discovery was found that DNP uncoupled oxidative phosphorylation; to uncouple something, it means to break apart. Unfortunately when oxidative phosphorylation is uncoupled, it stops the reactions between electron transport and phosphorylation. Therefore, ATP synthase can’t be completed..The most dangerous part about DNP uncoupling Oxidative phosphorylation, is potential energy is now consumed as heat instead to being changed into ATP (Cotton 2015). This over heating leads to Hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is when the body creates more heat then it can dispose of, this is a direct response to a failed thermoregulation. The body is now out of homeostasis. If hyperthermia is not treated right away it can be fatal, because a temperature elevation that is the extreme definitely requires medical attention.

        When DNP was discovered, in the was used for ammunition during the World War I. Besides ammunition is has many other purposes such as wood preserver, dye, herbicide, and used to develop photographs(Grundlingh et al. 2011). I couldn’t imagine putting anything in my body that was once used for these projects. DNP was put on the market as a weight loss drug shortly after 1933, when Maurice Tainter discovered that DNP increased weight loss. DNP was so easy to purchase, it was sold over the counter and was characterized as a “safe” weight loss tool. DNP was claimed to be the “king of weight loss drugs”(Cotton 2015).