scholarly journals Control of respiration and ATP synthesis in mammalian mitochondria and cells

1992 ◽  
Vol 284 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
G C Brown

We have seen that there is no simple answer to the question ‘what controls respiration?’ The answer varies with (a) the size of the system examined (mitochondria, cell or organ), (b) the conditions (rate of ATP use, level of hormonal stimulation), and (c) the particular organ examined. Of the various theories of control of respiration outlined in the introduction the ideas of Chance & Williams (1955, 1956) give the basic mechanism of how respiration is regulated. Increased ATP usage can cause increased respiration and ATP synthesis by mass action in all the main tissues. Superimposed on this basic mechanism is calcium control of matrix dehydrogenases (at least in heart and liver), and possibly also of the respiratory chain (at least in liver) and ATP synthase (at least in heart). In many tissues calcium also stimulates ATP usage directly; thus calcium may stimulate energy metabolism at (at least) four possible sites, the importance of each regulation varying with tissue. Regulation of multiple sites may occur (from a teleological point of view) because: (a) energy metabolism is branched and thus proportionate regulation of branches is required in order to maintain constant fluxes to branches (e.g. to proton leak or different ATP uses); and/or (b) control over fluxes is shared by a number of reactions, so that large increases in flux requires stimulation at multiple sites because each site has relatively little control. Control may be distributed throughout energy metabolism, possibly due to the necessity of minimizing cell protein levels (see Brown, 1991). The idea that energy metabolism is regulated by energy charge (as proposed by Atkinson, 1968, 1977) is misleading in mammals. Neither mitochondrial ATP synthesis nor cellular ATP usage is a unique function of energy charge as AMP is not a significant regulator (see for example Erecinska et al., 1977). The near-equilibrium hypothesis of Klingenberg (1961) and Erecinska & Wilson (1982) is partially correct in that oxidative phosphorylation is often close to equilibrium (apart from cytochrome oxidase) and as a consequence respiration and ATP synthesis are mainly regulated by (a) the phosphorylation potential, and (b) the NADH/NAD+ ratio. However, oxidative phosphorylation is not always close to equilibrium, at least in isolated mitochondria, and relative proximity to equilibrium does not prevent the respiratory chain, the proton leak, the ATP synthase and ANC having significant control over the fluxes. Thus in some conditions respiration rate correlates better with [ADP] than with phosphorylation potential, and may be relatively insensitive to mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Rolfe ◽  
G. C. Brown

The molecular origin of standard metabolic rate and thermogenesis in mammals is examined. It is pointed out that there are important differences and distinctions between the cellular reactions that 1) couple to oxygen consumption, 2) uncouple metabolism, 3) hydrolyze ATP, 4) control metabolic rate, 5) regulate metabolic rate, 6) produce heat, and 7) dissipate free energy. The quantitative contribution of different cellular reactions to these processes is assessed in mammals. We estimate that approximately 90% of mammalian oxygen consumption in the standard state is mitochondrial, of which approximately 20% is uncoupled by the mitochondrial proton leak and 80% is coupled to ATP synthesis. The consequences of the significant contribution of proton leak to standard metabolic rate for tissue P-to-O ratio, heat production, and free energy dissipation by oxidative phosphorylation and the estimated contribution of ATP-consuming processes to tissue oxygen consumption rate are discussed. Of the 80% of oxygen consumption coupled to ATP synthesis, approximately 25-30% is used by protein synthesis, 19-28% by the Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase, 4-8% by the Ca2(+)-ATPase, 2-8% by the actinomyosin ATPase, 7-10% by gluconeogenesis, and 3% by ureagenesis, with mRNA synthesis and substrate cycling also making significant contributions. The main cellular reactions that uncouple standard energy metabolism are the Na+, K+, H+, and Ca2+ channels and leaks of cell membranes and protein breakdown. Cellular metabolic rate is controlled by a number of processes including metabolic demand and substrate supply. The differences in standard metabolic rate between animals of different body mass and phylogeny appear to be due to proportionate changes in the whole of energy metabolism. Heat is produced by some reactions and taken up by others but is mainly produced by the reactions of mitochondrial respiration, oxidative phosphorylation, and proton leak on the inner mitochondrial membrane. Free energy is dissipated by all cellular reactions, but the major contributions are by the ATP-utilizing reactions and the uncoupling reactions. The functions and evolutionary significance of standard metabolic rate are discussed.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 381-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Buttgereit ◽  
M. D. Brand ◽  
M. Müller

The influence of ConA on the energy metabolism of quiescent rat thymocytes was investigated by measuring the effects of inhibitors of protein synthesis, proteolysis, RNA/DNA synthesis, Na+K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase and mitochondrial ATP synthesis on respiration. Only about 50% of the coupled oxygen consumption of quiescent thymocytes could be assigned to specific processes using two different media. Under these conditions the oxygen is mainly used to drive mitochondrial proton leak and to provide ATP for protein synthesis and cation transport, whereas oxygen consumption to provide ATP for RNA/DNA synthesis and ATP-dependent proteolysis was not measurable. The mitogen ConA produced a persistent increase in oxygen consumption by about 30% within seconds. After stimulation more than 80% of respiration could be assigned to specific processes. The major oxygen consuming processes of ConA-stimulated thymocytes are mitochondrial proton leak, protein synthesis and Na+K+-ATPase with about 20% each of total oxygen consumption, while Ca2+-ATPase and RNA/DNA synthesis contribute about 10% each. Quiescent thymocytes resemble resting hepatocytes in that most of the oxygen consumption remains unexplained. In constrast, the pattern of energy metabolism in stimulated thymocytes is similar to that described for Ehrlich Ascites tumour cells and splenocytes, which may also be in an activated state. Most of the oxygen consumption is accounted for, so the unexplained process(es) in unstimulated cells shut(s) off on stimulation.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Buttgereit ◽  
M. D. Brand ◽  
M. Müller

The influence of ConA on the energy metabolism of quiescent rat thymocytes was investigated by measuring the effects of inhibitors of protein synthesis, proteolysis, RNA/DNA synthesis, Na+K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase and mitochondrial ATP synthesis on respiration. Only about 50% of the coupled oxygen consumption of quiescent thymocytes could be assigned to specific processes using two different media. Under these conditions the oxygen is mainly used to drive mitochondrial proton leak and to provide ATP for protein synthesis and cation transport, whereas oxygen consumption to provide ATP for RNA/DNA synthesis and ATP-dependent proteolysis was not measurable. The mitogen ConA produced a persistent increase in oxygen consumption by about 30% within seconds. After stimulation more than 80% of respiration could be assigned to specific processes. The major oxygen consuming processes of ConA-stimulated thymocytes are mitochondrial proton leak, protein synthesis and Na+K+-ATPase with about 20% each of total oxygen consumption, while Ca2+-ATPase and RNA/DNA synthesis contribute about 10% each. Quiescent thymocytes resemble resting hepatocytes in that most of the oxygen consumption remains unexplained. In contrast, the pattern of energy metabolism in stimulated thymocytes is similar to that described for Ehrlich Ascites tumour cells and splenocytes, which may also be in an activated state. Most of the oxygen consumption is accounted for, so the unexplained process(es) in unstimulated cells shut(s) off on stimulation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (5) ◽  
pp. 2412-2421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Toth ◽  
Axel Meyrat ◽  
Stefan Stoldt ◽  
Ricardo Santiago ◽  
Dirk Wenzel ◽  
...  

Mitochondria have a characteristic ultrastructure with invaginations of the inner membrane called cristae that contain the protein complexes of the oxidative phosphorylation system. How this particular morphology of the respiratory membrane impacts energy conversion is currently unknown. One proposed role of cristae formation is to facilitate the establishment of local proton gradients to fuel ATP synthesis. Here, we determined the local pH values at defined sublocations within mitochondria of respiring yeast cells by fusing a pH-sensitive GFP to proteins residing in different mitochondrial subcompartments. Only a small proton gradient was detected over the inner membrane in wild type or cristae-lacking cells. Conversely, the obtained pH values did barely permit ATP synthesis in a reconstituted system containing purified yeast F1F0 ATP synthase, although, thermodynamically, a sufficiently high driving force was applied. At higher driving forces, where robust ATP synthesis was observed, a P-side pH value of 6 increased the ATP synthesis rate 3-fold compared to pH 7. In contrast, when ATP synthase was coreconstituted with an active proton-translocating cytochrome oxidase, ATP synthesis readily occurred at the measured, physiological pH values. Our study thus reveals that the morphology of the inner membrane does not influence the subcompartmental pH values and is not necessary for robust oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. Instead, it is likely that the dense packing of the oxidative phosphorylation complexes in the cristae membranes assists kinetic coupling between proton pumping and ATP synthesis.


1976 ◽  
Vol 160 (3) ◽  
pp. 809-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Griffiths

ATP synthase preparations [complex V, proton-translocatin ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) and oligomycin-sensitive ATPase] contain stoicheiometric amounts of lipoic acid residues (up to 6mol of lipoic acid/mol of ATPase complex) and catalyse net ATP synthesis in an uncoupler-and oligomycin-sensitive reaction utilizing dihydrolipoate, oleoyl-CoA and oleic acid, or in a reaction utilizing oleoyl-S-lipoate. The terminal reactions of oxidative phosphorylation are thus analogous to those of substrate-level phosphorylation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Semen Nesterov ◽  
Yury Chesnokov ◽  
Roman Kamyshinsky ◽  
Alisa Panteleeva ◽  
Konstantin Lyamzaev ◽  
...  

The existence of a complete oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) supercomplex including both electron transport system and ATP synthases has long been assumed based on functional evidence. However, no structural confirmation of the docking between ATP synthase and proton pumps has been obtained. In this study, cryo-electron tomography was used to reveal the supramolecular architecture of the rat heart mitochondria cristae during ATP synthesis. Respirasome and ATP synthase structure in situ were determined using subtomogram averaging. The obtained reconstructions of the inner mitochondrial membrane demonstrated that rows of respiratory chain supercomplexes can dock with rows of ATP synthases forming oligomeric ordered clusters. These ordered clusters indicate a new type of OXPHOS structural organization. It should ensure the quickness, efficiency, and damage resistance of OXPHOS, providing a direct proton transfer from pumps to ATP synthase along the lateral pH gradient without energy dissipation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prashant Neupane ◽  
Sudina Bhuju ◽  
Nita Thapa ◽  
Hitesh Kumar Bhattarai

AbstractOxidative phosphorylation is carried out by five complexes, which are the sites for electron transport and ATP synthesis. Among those, Complex V (also known as the F1F0 ATP Synthase or ATPase) is responsible for the generation of ATP through phosphorylation of ADP by using electrochemical energy generated by proton gradient across the inner membrane of mitochondria. A multi subunit structure that works like a pump functions along the proton gradient across the membranes which not only results in ATP synthesis and breakdown, but also facilitates electron transport. Since ATP is the major energy currency in all living cells, its synthesis and function have widely been studied over the last few decades uncovering several aspects of ATP synthase. This review intends to summarize the structure, function and inhibition of the ATP synthase.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 2527-2535 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nioka ◽  
D. S. Smith ◽  
B. Chance ◽  
H. V. Subramanian ◽  
S. Butler ◽  
...  

The relationship between biochemical and physiological responses and tissue O2 during hypoxia was investigated in vivo in the dog brain by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Our findings demonstrate how ATP synthesis in the brain can be maintained during hypoxia because of compensatory changes in NADH, ADP, and Pi. Eleven beagle dogs were anesthetized and mechanically ventilated, and a steady-state graded hypoxia was induced by decreasing the fraction of inspired O2 (FIO2) stepwise at 20-min intervals. Biochemical metabolites were measured using 31P-NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy. When sagittal sinus O2 partial pressure (PVO2) had decreased to 15 Torr, NADH increased by 30%, Pi increased by 50%, and phosphocreatine (PCr) decreased by 20%. In contrast, ATP remained constant. There was a 10% increase in ADP in dogs that maintained a steady temperature, but ADP decreased by as much as 30% in dogs in which body temperature decreased with the falling PVO2. PCr/Pi was logarithmically related to the phosphorylation potential during steady-state hypoxia. Compensation for the O2 lack is attributed to increases in ADP, Pi, and NADH as a result of the reciprocal relationship of the Michaelis-Menten equation. If the Michaelis-Menten constants (Km) of ADP, Pi, and O2 are the same as determined in vitro in mitochondria, the minimum brain cytosolic O2 capable of maintaining a steady-state ATP is near its Km (0.1 Torr) at a PVO2 of 7.5 Torr. At this critical O2 level, PCr/Pi is 0.9, intracellular pH is 6.75, phosphorylation potential is 38.5 mM-1, and the calculated maximum velocity of ATP formation by oxidative phosphorylation is 55% of normal.


1999 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.G. Nicholls ◽  
S.L. Budd ◽  
M.W. Ward ◽  
R.F. Castilho

Excitotoxicity is the process whereby a massive glutamate release in the central nervous system in response to ischaemia or related trauma leads to the delayed, predominantly necrotic death of neurons. Excitotoxicity is also implicated in a variety of slow neurodegenerative disorders. Mitochondria accumulate much of the post-ischaemic calcium entering the neurons via the chronically activated N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor. This calcium accumulation plays a key role in the subsequent death of the neuron. Cultured cerebellar granule cells demonstrate delayed calcium de-regulation (DCD) followed by necrosis upon exposure to glutamate. DCD is unaffected by the ATP synthase inhibitor oligomycin but is inhibited by the further addition of a respiratory chain inhibitor to depolarize the mitochondria and inhibit mitochondrial calcium accumulation without depleting ATP [Budd and Nicholls (1996) J. Neurochem. 67, 2282-2291]. Mitochondrial depolarization paradoxically decreases the cytoplasmic calcium elevation following glutamate addition, probably due to an enhanced calcium efflux from the cell. Cells undergo immediate calcium de-regulation in the presence of glutamate if the respiratory chain is inhibited; this is due to ATP depletion following ATP synthase reversal and can be reversed by oligomycin. In contrast, DCD is irreversible. Elevated cytoplasmic calcium is not excitotoxic as long as mitochondria are depolarized; alternative substrates do not rescue cells about to undergo DCD, suggesting that glycolytic failure is not involved. Mitochondria in situ remain sufficiently polarized during granule cell glutamate exposure to continue to generate ATP and show a classic mitochondrial state 3-state 4 hyperpolarization on inhibiting ATP synthesis; mitochondrial depolarization follows, and may be a consequence of rather than a cause of DCD. In addition, our studies show no evidence of the mitochondrial permeability transition prior to DCD. The mitochondrial generation of superoxide anions is enhanced during glutamate exposure and a working hypothesis is that DCD may be caused by oxidative damage to calcium extrusion pathways at the plasma membrane.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Nicholls

The proton conductance of the mitochondrial inner membrane can be quantified by applying Ohm's law to the experimentally determined protonmotive force and the proton current flowing around the proton circuit in the absence of ATP synthesis or ion transport. This last parameter is derived from the rate of State 4 respiration multiplied by the H+/O stoichiometry for the substrate. When the activity of the dehydrogenase supplying electrons to the respiratory chain is progressively increased the proton conductance increases rapidly when the protonmotive force is greater than 220 mV. The consequences of this non-ohmic relationship are discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document