scholarly journals Penetration of Amino Acids into Isolated Mitochondria

1963 ◽  
Vol 238 (7) ◽  
pp. 2440-2444 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Garfinkel
1973 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Ferdinand ◽  
W. Bartley ◽  
V. Broomhead

Amino acid analyses of mitochondrial membranes are compared with the amino acid composition of whole mitochondria (Alberti, 1964) and found to be very similar except in the cystine content. The composition of the endogenous amino acids found in freshly prepared mitochondria has been established and shown to differ considerably from the amino acid composition of membranes or whole mitochondria. The amino acids produced during anaerobic incubation of mitochondria at pH7.4, on the other hand, resemble the membrane in composition, supporting the view that neutral proteinase activity is responsible for their appearance. Aerobic incubation produces a similar pattern of amino acids except that amino acids such as proline, serine, asparagine, glutamic acid and glutamine, which can be metabolically utilized under aerobic conditions, are present to a smaller extent. The presence of large relative concentrations of endogenous taurine, cysteic acid and oxidized glutathione and the accumulation of taurine during incubation is found. The selective retention of taurine and cysteic acid within the mitochondria is established. It is proposed that the first step in the degeneration of isolated mitochondria results from lipid hydroperoxide accumulation caused by the lack of glutathione reductase in isolated mitochondria.


1972 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Clandinin ◽  
E. A. Cossins

1. Mitochondria were extracted from 4-day-old pea cotyledons and purified on a sucrose density gradient. 2. Microbiological assay of the purified mitochondrial fraction with Lactobacillus casei (A.T.C.C. 7469), Streptococcus faecalis (A.T.C.C. 8043) and Pediococcus cerevisiae (A.T.C.C. 8081) revealed a discrete pool of conjugated and unconjugated derivatives of tetrahydropteroylglutamic acid. 3. Solubilization and chromatographic studies of the mitochondrial fraction demonstrated the presence of formylated and methylated derivatives, 10-formyltetrahydropteroylmonoglutamic acid, 5-formyltetrahydropteroylmonoglutamic acid and 5-formyltetrahydropteroyldiglutamic acid being the major derivatives present. 4. The principal mitochondrial pteroylglutamates were labelled when dry seeds were allowed to imbibe [2-14C]pteroylglutamic acid and 5-[methyl-14C]-methyltetrahydropteroylmonoglutamic acid. 5. The ability of isolated mitochondria to catalyse oxidation and reduction of tetrahydropteroylglutamic acid derivatives was demonstrated in feeding experiments in which [14C]formaldehyde, [3-14C]serine, sodium [14C]formate, 5-[methyl-14C]methyltetrahydropteroylmonoglutamic acid or [2-14C]-glycine served as C1 donor. In addition,14C was incorporated into free amino acids related to C1 metabolism.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1337-1349 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Moyes ◽  
R. K. Suarez ◽  
P. W. Hochachka ◽  
J. S. Ballantyne

Knowledge of tissue-specific mitochondrial properties is important in understanding cellular aerobic energy metabolism. Studies employing isolated mitochondria offer the advantage of direct and controlled manipulation of extramitochondrial conditions, while minimizing disruption of interactions between mitochondrial enzymes, transporters, and membranes. In this review, we compare the oxidative properties of mitochondria isolated from liver, heart, and skeletal muscle of vertebrates and invertebrates. The observed differences between tissues and species in the capacities for mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids, ketone bodies, pyruvate, and amino acids reflect fundamentally different adaptations for the assimilation, storage, and utilization of metabolic fuels.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 505-510
Author(s):  
Alexandra J. MacDermott ◽  
Laurence D. Barron ◽  
Andrè Brack ◽  
Thomas Buhse ◽  
John R. Cronin ◽  
...  

AbstractThe most characteristic hallmark of life is its homochirality: all biomolecules are usually of one hand, e.g. on Earth life uses only L-amino acids for protein synthesis and not their D mirror images. We therefore suggest that a search for extra-terrestrial life can be approached as a Search for Extra- Terrestrial Homochirality (SETH). The natural choice for a SETH instrument is optical rotation, and we describe a novel miniaturized space polarimeter, called the SETH Cigar, which could be used to detect optical rotation as the homochiral signature of life on other planets. Moving parts are avoided by replacing the normal rotating polarizer by multiple fixed polarizers at different angles as in the eye of the bee. We believe that homochirality may be found in the subsurface layers on Mars as a relic of extinct life, and on other solar system bodies as a sign of advanced pre-biotic chemistry. We discuss the chiral GC-MS planned for the Roland lander of the Rosetta mission to a comet and conclude with theories of the physical origin of homochirality.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Clifford N. Matthews ◽  
Rose A. Pesce-Rodriguez ◽  
Shirley A. Liebman

AbstractHydrogen cyanide polymers – heterogeneous solids ranging in color from yellow to orange to brown to black – may be among the organic macromolecules most readily formed within the Solar System. The non-volatile black crust of comet Halley, for example, as well as the extensive orangebrown streaks in the atmosphere of Jupiter, might consist largely of such polymers synthesized from HCN formed by photolysis of methane and ammonia, the color observed depending on the concentration of HCN involved. Laboratory studies of these ubiquitous compounds point to the presence of polyamidine structures synthesized directly from hydrogen cyanide. These would be converted by water to polypeptides which can be further hydrolyzed to α-amino acids. Black polymers and multimers with conjugated ladder structures derived from HCN could also be formed and might well be the source of the many nitrogen heterocycles, adenine included, observed after pyrolysis. The dark brown color arising from the impacts of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter might therefore be mainly caused by the presence of HCN polymers, whether originally present, deposited by the impactor or synthesized directly from HCN. Spectroscopic detection of these predicted macromolecules and their hydrolytic and pyrolytic by-products would strengthen significantly the hypothesis that cyanide polymerization is a preferred pathway for prebiotic and extraterrestrial chemistry.


Author(s):  
K. S. McCarty ◽  
R. F. Weave ◽  
L. Kemper ◽  
F. S. Vogel

During the prodromal stages of sporulation in the Basidiomycete, Agaricus bisporus, mitochondria accumulate in the basidial cells, zygotes, in the gill tissues prior to entry of these mitochondria, together with two haploid nuclei and cytoplasmic ribosomes, into the exospores. The mitochondria contain prominent loci of DNA [Fig. 1]. A modified Kleinschmidt spread technique1 has been used to evaluate the DNA strands from purified whole mitochondria released by osmotic shock, mitochondrial DNA purified on CsCl gradients [density = 1.698 gms/cc], and DNA purified on ethidium bromide CsCl gradients. The DNA appeared as linear strands up to 25 u in length and circular forms 2.2-5.2 u in circumference. In specimens prepared by osmotic shock, many strands of DNA are apparently attached to membrane fragments [Fig. 2]. When mitochondria were ruptured in hypotonic sucrose and then fixed in glutaraldehyde, the ribosomes were released for electron microscopic examination.


Author(s):  
E.M. Kuhn ◽  
K.D. Marenus ◽  
M. Beer

Fibers composed of different types of collagen cannot be differentiated by conventional electron microscopic stains. We are developing staining procedures aimed at identifying collagen fibers of different types.Pt(Gly-L-Met)Cl binds specifically to sulfur-containing amino acids. Different collagens have methionine (met) residues at somewhat different positions. A good correspondence has been reported between known met positions and Pt(GLM) bands in rat Type I SLS (collagen aggregates in which molecules lie adjacent to each other in exact register). We have confirmed this relationship in Type III collagen SLS (Fig. 1).


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