Cellular respiration is used to generate usable ATP energy in order to support many other

reactions in the body. ATP is particularly important for energetically unfavorable reactions
that would otherwise not occur without an energy input.

Glycolysis is the process in which glucose is broken down to produce energy. It produces two
molecules of pyruvate, ATP, NADH and water. The process takes place in the cytoplasm of a
cell and does not require oxygen. It occurs in both aerobic and anaerobic organisms.

The main function of the Krebs cycle is to produce energy, stored and transported as ATP or
GTP. The cycle is also central to other biosynthetic reactions where the intermediates
produced are required to make other molecules, such as amino acids, nucleotide bases and
cholesterol.

The Electron Transport Chain is a collection of proteins bound to the inner mitochondrial
membrane and organic molecules, which electrons pass through in a series of redox
reactions, and release energy. The energy released forms a proton gradient, which is used in
chemiosmosis to make a large amount of ATP by the protein ATP-synthase.