The Effect of Cyanide on Cellular Respiration

The Effect of Cyanide on Cellular Respiration
Name
Institution
The Effect of Cyanide on Cellular Respiration
Cyanide (CN-) is one of the best known metabolic poisons. This poison has for a long time been used by terrorists and other criminals. Like all metabolic poisons, cyanide inhibits the cellular respiration thus leading to death.
One thing about cyanide is that it is an electron transport inhibitor. These inhibitors function by attaching themselves somewhere on the electron transport chain. This prevents electrons from being transported from one carrier to another. Like all the metabolic poisons, cyanide is consistent of the monovalent combining group CN-. This group is constituted of a carbon atom that is bonded three times to a nitrogen atom.
The toxicity of cyanide comes from the fact that it fixates itself to the cytochrome c oxidase which is the fourth complex in the electron transport chain. The poison fixates itself to the iron within the ETS (protein system) and impairs the ordinary functioning of the complex system.