Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is the terminal complex (complex IV) of the electron transfer chain, embedded in the mitochondrial inner membrane. It catalyzes electron transfer from reduced cytochrome c to molecular oxygen in a process coupled to the transfer of protons across the inner membrane, thus contributing to the generation of the proton gradient that is used by ATP synthase to drive ATP synthesis. (Adapted from
PMID:17091399 and
PMID:28870773.)
