The discovery of oxidative phosphorylation: a conceptual off-shoot from the study of glycolysis

The origins of oxidative phosphorylation, initially known as aerobic phosphorylation, grew out of three research areas of muscle metabolism, creatine phosphorylation, aerobic metabolism of lactic acid in muscle, and studies on the nature and role of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Much of this work centred round the laboratory of Otto Meyerhof, and most of those contributing to the study of aerobic phosphorylation were influenced by that laboratory: particularly Lipmann and also Ochoa. The work of Engelhardt on ATP levels in blood also appears to have been influenced by the studies of Meyerhof’s laboratory. However, with the work of Kalckar, influenced by Lipmann, biochemists began to realise the potential importance of the process. This was confirmed and extended by Belitzer and Ochoa and the theoretical contribution of Lipmann. Thus it is not easy to identify a single point that marked the initiation of studies in this field.The early work was based on the use of tissue homogenates and cells but ultimately this approach limited research possibilities. The development of techniques based on mitochondria opened up new possibilities and brought this first phase of the study of oxidative phorphorylation to a close.