scholarly journals SEDIMENTATION PROPERTIES OF RAT LIVER MITOCHONDRIA

1970 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Loeb ◽  
Daniel V. Kimberg

A prediction of the velocity of sedimentation of rat liver mitochondria in sucrose gradients is made on the basis of recent measurements of the size of isolated mitochondria suspended in sucrose medium and the model proposed by Bentzel and Solomon to describe the osmotic behavior of mitochondria. The experimentally observed velocity is extremely close to the predicted value and confirms by a different approach the estimate of mitochondrial volume made by Baudhuin and Berthet on the basis of electron microscopic measurements. Because cortisone treatment of rats is known to result in a marked increase in mitochondrial size as observed under the electron microscope, mitochondria were co-isolated from livers of control and cortisone-treated animals, and the sedimentation behavior of the mixtures was examined by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Mitochondria from cortisone-treated animals were found to sediment 1.4 times as rapidly as those from control animals, indicating that their increased size cannot entirely be due to an increased imbibition of fluid from the surrounding sucrose medium, and that the change in size must at least in part be due to a change in content of nondiffusible mitochondrial components. Although the increase in sedimentation velocity of mitochondria from cortisone-treated animals is striking, it is less than that predicted solely on the basis of their size relative to that of control mitochondria. It is concluded that the increases in mitochondrial size and content of nondiffusible components produced by cortisone treatment are accompanied by alterations in mitochondrial composition as well.

1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 913-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Knecht ◽  
A Martinez-Ramon ◽  
S Grisolia

Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was localized in rat liver by indirect electron microscopic immunogold, using different sizes of gold particles and monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. Using the protein A-gold technique in double immunocytochemical experiments, both antibodies, at their optimal dilutions, gave similar results. A novel assessment of the distribution of GDH was made by measurements of the number of gold particles per square micrometer of cross-sectional images of individual mitochondria. The data indicate intracellular homogeneity among mitochondria in individual parenchymal cells. The enzyme is almost absent in non-parenchymal cells. Finally, GDH was found mainly in association with the mitochondrial inner membrane.


1994 ◽  
Vol 299 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Bernet ◽  
R M Pinto ◽  
M J Costas ◽  
J Canales ◽  
J C Cameselle

A study involving markers of subcellular and submitochondrial fractions, gradient centrifugation, latency measurements and extraction with digitonin, demonstrates the association of a specific ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase with rat liver mitochondria and its localization in the matrix space. The enzyme hydrolyses ADP-ribose to AMP, with a Km of 2-3 microM. The results support the occurrence of a specific turnover pathway for free ADP-ribose and its relevance in mitochondria.


1964 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Greenawalt ◽  
Carlo S. Rossi ◽  
Albert L. Lehninger

Rat liver mitochondria allowed to accumulate maximal amounts of Ca++ and HPO4= ions from the suspending medium in vitro during respiration have a considerably higher specific gravity than normal mitochondria and may be easily separated from the latter by isopycnic centrifugation in density gradients of sucrose or cesium chloride. When the mitochondria are allowed to accumulate less than maximal amounts of Ca++ and HPO4= from the medium, they have intermediate specific gravities which are roughly proportional to their content of calcium phosphate. Maximally "loaded" mitochondria are relatively homogeneous with respect to specific gravity. Correlated biochemical and electron microscopic studies show that Ca++-loaded mitochondria contain numerous dense granules, of which some 85 per cent are over 500 A in diameter. These granules are electron-opaque not only following fixation and staining with heavy metal reagents, but also following fixation with formaldehyde, demonstrating that the characteristic granules in Ca++-loaded mitochondria have intrinsic electron-opacity. The dense granules are almost always located within the inner compartment of the mitochondria and not in the space between the inner and outer membranes. They are frequently located at or near the cristae and they often show electron-transparent "cores." Such granules appear to be made up of clusters of smaller dense particles, but preliminary x-ray diffraction analysis and electron diffraction studies have revealed no evidence of crystallinity in the deposits. The electron-opaque granules decrease in number when the Ca++-loaded mitochondria are incubated with 2,4-dinitrophenol; simultaneously there is discharge of Ca++ and phosphate from the mitochondria into the medium.


BioFactors ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 225-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen A. Mannella ◽  
Karolyn Buttle ◽  
Bimal K. Rath ◽  
M. Marko

1981 ◽  
Vol 196 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Husby ◽  
I Romslo

The mechanism by which metalloporphyrins synthesized within the mitochondria escape to the incubation medium was studied in isolated rat liver mitochondria. In a low-ionic-strength sucrose medium, the efflux of metalloporphyrins is markedly decreased when K+ (greater than 10 mM) is added. The effect of K+ is not dependent on the energy state of the mitochondria and it can in part be abolished by adding globin, but not albumin. K+ also decreases the uptake of porphyrins by the mitochondria and thereby the rate of synthesis of metalloporphyrins. Qualitatively similar results are found with Na+, Li+, Mg2+ and Ca2+. Quantitatively, however, the efficiency of cations to inhibit the release of metalloporphyrins decreases in the order: Mg2+ greater than Ca2+ greater than K+ greater than Li+ greater than Na+. Co-protoporhyrin behaves essentially as Co-deuteroporphyrin. The results provide further evidence that the efflux of metalloporphyrins from the mitochondria depends on haem-binding ligands of the suspending medium and also on the ionic strength of the incubation medium.


1971 ◽  
Vol 26 (02) ◽  
pp. 353-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. D Kaulen ◽  
R Gross

SummaryThe Acid Phosphatase was tested in human platelets and in the rat liver mitochondrial-lysosomal fraction with p-nitrophenylphosphate and β-glycerophosphate as substrates. In the platelets the following differences were found between the hydrolysis of these two substrates, whereas in rat liver no such differences were observed. 1. The relative rates of hydrolysis and the pH optima for both substrates are different (pH 4.6 for the β-glycerophosphatase, pH 6.0 for the p-nitrophenylphosphatase in the platelets). 2. The p-nitrophenylphosphatase of the platelets is inhibited by p-chlormercuribenzoate and N-ethylmaleimide, but not by fluoride or L + tartrate, whereas the contrary is true for the platelet β-glycerophosphatase and the rat liver activities. 3. The platelet p-nitrophenylphosphatase is rapidly inactivated by preincubation at 40-45° C for 15 min, the other phosphatases are much more heat-resistant. 4. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation of platelet homgenates showed a separation of the two platelet phosphatase activities, the p-nitrophenylphosphatase with its maximum at lower densities than the β-glycerophosphatase.It is concluded that in human platelets there are at least two different Acid Phosphatases. The β-glycerophosphatase probably represents the lysosomal (as compared to the rat liver enzyme) phosphatase whereas the p-nitrophenylphosphatase of the platelets is a different enzyme whose subcellular localization and functions are as yet unknown.


1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (S2) ◽  
pp. 416-417
Author(s):  
C.A. Mannella ◽  
C.-E Hsieh ◽  
M. Marko

Electron microscopic tomography is providing important new insights about the internal structure of the mitochondrion. In particular, the infoldings of the mitochondrial inner membrane (cristae), which are usually rendered as lamelliform baffles, are revealed to have considerable tubular nature. Rather than opening wide to the peripheral compartment (between the inner and outer membranes), the cristae connect to the outside and to each other through narrow (20-30 nm) tubular segments, which can be hundreds of nanometers long. This suggests that diffusion of ions, metabolites and proteins between the intracristal and intermembrane spaces may be restricted.The earlier tomographic reconstructions were done on conventionally prepared, plastic-embedded specimens, which raises the usual concerns about structural preservation. More recently, we have undertaken tomography of isolated rat-liver mitochondria that have been embedded in vitreous ice (by plunge-freezing in iso-osmotic buffer without chemical fixatives or stains). These frozen hydrated specimens are imaged with a JEOL 4000FX equipped with a Gatan cryo-transfer holder and a Tietz automated data collection system, with a Ik × Ik CCD. For 3D reconstructions, images were recorded at a dose of 5 e−Å2 at 2° increments over the range +/− 60°.


1976 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Noguchi ◽  
E Okuno ◽  
Y Minatogawa ◽  
R Kido

1. Histidine-pyruvate aminotransferase (isoenzyme 1) was purified to homogeneity from the mitochondrial and supernatant fractions of rat liver, as judged by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and isolectric focusing. Both enzyme preparations were remarkably similar in physical and enzymic properties. Isoenzyme 1 had pI8.0 and a pH optimum of 9.0. The enzyme was active with pyruvate as amino acceptor but not with 2-oxoglutarate, and utilized various aromatic amino acids as amino donors in the following order of activity: phenylalanine greater than tyrosine greater than histidine. Very little activity was found with tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptophan. The apparent Km values were about 2.6mM for histidine and 2.7 mM for phenylalanine. Km values for pyruvate were about 5.2mM with phenylalanine as amino donor and 1.1mM with histidine. The aminotransferase activity of the enzyme towards phenylalanine was inhibited by the addition of histidine. The mol.wt. determined by gel filtration and sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation was approx. 70000. The mitochondrial and supernatant isoenzyme 1 activities increased approximately 25-fold and 3.2-fold respectively in rats repeatedly injected with glucagon for 2 days. 2. An additional histidine-pyruvate aminotransferase (isoenzyme 2) was partially purified from both the mitochondrial and supernatant fractions of rat liver. Nearly identical properties were observed with both preparations. Isoenzyme 2 had pI5.2 and a pH optimum of 9.3. The enzyme was specific for pyruvate and did not function with 2-oxoglutarate. The order of effectiveness of amino donors was tyrosine = phenylalanine greater than histidine greater than tryptophan greater than 5-hydroxytryptophan. The apparent Km values for histidine and phenylalanine were about 0.51 and 1.8 mM respectively. Km values for pyruvate were about 3.5mM with phenylalanine and 4.7mM with histidine as amino donors. Histidine inhibited phenylalanine aminotransferase activity of the enzyme. Gel filtration and sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation yielded a mol.wt. of approx. 90000. Neither the mitochondrial nor the supernatant isoenzyme 2 activity was elevated by glucagon injection.


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