valinomycin and antimycin

The mitochondrial cytochrome bc(1) complex (ubiquinol/cytochrome c oxidoreductase) is generally thought to generate superoxide anion that participates in cell signaling and contributes to cellular damage in aging and degenerative disease. However, the isolated, detergent-solubilized bc(1) complex does not generate measurable amounts of superoxide except when inhibited by antimycin. In addition, indirect measurements of superoxide production by cells and isolated mitochondria have not clearly resolved the contribution of the bc(1) complex to the generation of superoxide by mitochondria in vivo, nor did they establish the effect, if any, of membrane potential on superoxide formation by this enzyme complex. In this study we show that the yeast cytochrome bc(1) complex does generate significant amounts of superoxide when reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles. The rate of superoxide generation by the reconstituted bc(1) complex increased exponentially with increased magnitude of the membrane potential, a finding that is compatible with the suggestion that membrane potential inhibits electron transfer from the cytochrome b(L) to b(H) hemes, thereby promoting the formation of a ubisemiquinone radical that interacts with oxygen to generate superoxide. When the membrane potential was further increased, by the addition of nigericin or by the imposition of a diffusion potential, the rate of generation of superoxide was further accelerated and approached the rate obtained with antimycin. These findings suggest that the bc(1) complex may contribute significantly to superoxide generation by mitochondria in vivo, and that the rate of superoxide generation can be controlled by modulation of the mitochondrial membrane potential.

Topics: Antimycin A; Electron Transport; Electron Transport Complex III; Fungal Proteins; Iron-Sulfur Proteins; Membrane Lipids; Membrane Potentials; Models, Chemical; Nigericin; Phospholipids; Superoxides; Time Factors; Transport Vesicles; Ubiquinone; Valinomycin; Yeasts

Crithidia deanei, a monoxenic trypanosomatid, presents an endosymbiotic bacterium in its cytoplasm. Both the protozoan and the bacterium maintain intensive metabolic exchange, resulting in an interesting model to study the coevolution of metabolisms. The relevance of l-proline for the growth of C. deanei and its transport into these cells was studied. Both the endosymbiont-containing (wild) and the endosymbiont-free protozoa (aposymbiont or cured) strains, when grown in medium supplemented with l-proline, reached higher cell densities than those grown in unsupplemented media. We biochemically characterized the uptake of l-proline in both the wild (K(m)=0.153+/-0.022 mM, V(max)=0.239+/-0.011 nmol min(-1) per 4 x 10(7) cells) and the aposymbiont strains (K(m)=0.177+/-0.049 mM, V(max)=0.132+/-0.012 nmol min(-1) per 4 x 10(7) cells). These data suggest a single type of proline transporter whose activity is upregulated by the presence of the symbiotic bacterium. Proline transport was further characterized and was found to be insensitive to the extracellular concentration of Na+, but sensitive to K+ and pH. The abolition of proline uptake by respiratory chain inhibitors and valinomycin indicates that the proline transport in C. deanei is dependent on the plasma membrane K+ gradient.

Topics: Animals; Antimycin A; Bacteria; Crithidia; Culture Media; Depression, Chemical; DNA, Bacterial; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Monensin; Potassium; Proline; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Rotenone; Sodium; Symbiosis; Temperature; Time Factors; Up-Regulation; Valinomycin

In pancreatic acini, the high affinity cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor agonist, CCK-OPE which utilizes the phospholipase A2 (PLA2)/arachidonic acid (AA) pathway, dose-dependently increased intracellular Ca2+ spike frequency and amplitude. An uncoupler of proton gradients, FCCP, abolished Ca2+ oscillations and amylase secretion induced by CCK-OPE. Furthermore, FCCP or decreasing extravesicular pH inhibited ATP-dependent 45Ca2+ uptake into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) fraction. On the other hand, cytosolic acidification induced by Na(+)-free medium led to Ca2+ oscillations. Depletion of intracellular ATP by antimycin resulted in an abolition of the response to CCK-OPE. Administration of the K+ ionophore, valinomycin, abolished the action of CCK-OPE. Decreasing K+ concentrations outside the ER vesicles inhibited ATP-dependent 45Ca2+ uptake and AA-induced 45Ca2+ release. Caffeine inhibited the actions of CCK-OPE, whereas ryanodine did not have any effects. These data suggest that IP3-independent Ca2+ oscillations mediated by the PLA2 cascades involve the release of intracellular Ca2+ by AA and reuptake of Ca2+ by an ATP-dependent Ca2+/H+ antiport. Furthermore, the presence of K+ membrane potential gradient across the ER membrane is required for normal Ca2+ oscillations.

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphate; Amylases; Animals; Antimycin A; Caffeine; Calcium; Carbonyl Cyanide p-Trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone; Cells, Cultured; Cytosol; Dogs; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Homeostasis; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; Kinetics; Male; Models, Biological; Pancreas; Peptide Fragments; Potassium; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Cholecystokinin; Ryanodine; Sincalide; Uncoupling Agents; Valinomycin

Incubation of intact mitochondria with aspartate aminotransferase results in efflux of malate dehydrogenase and vice versa. The export process is specific and rapid. It shows saturation kinetics with respect to the effector enzyme consistent with involvement of a receptor for the effector in the mitochondrial membrane system. Export is inhibited by both beta-mercaptoethanol and by the metal chelating agent bathophenanthroline; both substances inhibit release of malate dehydrogenase by aspartate aminotransferase competitively whereas for release of aspartate aminotransferase by malate dehydrogenase inhibition is non-competitive. The efflux process is dependent on a trans-membrane pH gradient. Exported enzymes differ from the native forms in their dependence of activity on pH. Export of both aspartate aminotransferase and malate dehydrogenase is effected by incubation of mitochondria with the newly-synthesised precursor of aspartate aminotransferase; this observation provides supporting evidence for the physiological significance of the other results reported here. It is speculated that exported enzymes are on a pathway to degradation, and that coupled uptake and export is involved in the co-ordination of synthesis and breakdown of mitochondrial proteins.

Topics: Animals; Antimycin A; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Carbonyl Cyanide p-Trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone; Catalysis; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Immunosorbent Techniques; Intracellular Membranes; Kinetics; Malate Dehydrogenase; Mercaptoethanol; Mitochondria, Liver; Molecular Weight; NAD; Nigericin; Phenanthrolines; Rats; Valinomycin

Protein synthesis was investigated in isolated mitochondria under conditions which either inhibited electron transport or uncoupled oxidative phosphorylation. In a medium containing an exogenous source of ATP and oligomycin, an inhibitor of the ATP synthase complex, incorporation of [35S]methionine into proteins is stimulated in the presence of inhibitors of the electron transport chain; substituting uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation for the latter leads, in contrast, to a decrease in the rate of incorporation of the labeled amino acid into mitochondrial translation products. Studies on the metabolic stability of mitochondrial translation products revealed that "mature" polypeptides made in isolated mitochondria are stable as indicated by the absence of degradation during a 50 min "chase" period. Under conditions which reduce or dissipate the membrane potential, 50-60% of the newly made polypeptides (pulse) are degraded within 50 min. The kinetics of the degradation process for individual mitochondrial gene products reveal that the largest proportion of polypeptides degraded to an acid-soluble form during the chase period are abnormal proteins, likely the result of premature chain termination. Emerging as a common denominator in these studies is a role for a transmembrane potential across the inner membrane in the production of mature "stable" mitochondrial gene products.

Topics: Animals; Antimycin A; Atractyloside; Intracellular Membranes; Kinetics; Membrane Potentials; Methionine; Mitochondria, Heart; Oligomycins; Potassium Cyanide; Protein Biosynthesis; Proteins; Rats; Valinomycin

The mechanistic stoichiometry of charge separation coupled to the flow of electrons through cytochrome c oxidase has remained a center of controversy since it was first demonstrated that cytochrome oxidase is an H+ pump. Currently the major dispute is whether the q+/O ratio for this segment is 4 or 6. One cause of the controversy is incomplete coupling between electron flow, electrogenic H+ ejection, and electrophoretic cation uptake, which is usually attributed to finite rates of H+ leakage and/or slippage of the H+ pumps. To minimize the uncertainty which incomplete coupling introduces into estimates of the mechanistic stoichiometry, a new approach (Beavis, A. D., and Lehninger, A. L. (1986) Eur. J. Biochem. 158, 307-314) has been used to determine the upper and lower limits of the mechanistic q+/O translocation stoichiometry of cytochrome oxidase. In this approach, the relationship between the rate of valinomycin-dependent K+ uptake, JK, and rate of O2 consumption, JO, is determined as the rates are modulated by two distinct means. When the rates are modulated by the rate of electron flow (i.e. rate of energy supply) the slope of JK versus JO must at all points be less than the mechanistic K+/O ratio. On the other hand, when the rates are modulated by varying the concentration of valinomycin (i.e. the rate of energy utilization) the slope of JK versus JO must at all points be greater than the mechanistic K+/O ratio. The results indicate that the q+/O ratio lies between 4.3 and 5.5. These data are inconsistent with both currently favored stoichiometries, and it is suggested that the true mechanistic stoichiometry of charge separation coupled to electron flow through cytochrome oxidase may be 5 q+/O.

Topics: Antimycin A; Carbonyl Cyanide p-Trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone; Chemical Phenomena; Chemistry, Physical; Electron Transport; Electron Transport Complex IV; Kinetics; Mathematics; Oxygen; Potassium; Valinomycin

The stoichiometry of vectorial H+ translocation coupled to oxidation of added ferrocytochrome c by O2 via cytochrome-c oxidase of rat liver mitoplasts was determined employing a fast-responding O2 electrode. Electron flow was initiated by addition of either ferrocytochrome c or O2. When the rates were extrapolated to level flow, the H+/O ratios in both cases were less than but closely approached 4; the directly observed H+/O ratios significantly exceeded 3.0. The mechanistic H+/O ratio was then more closely fixed by a kinetic approach that eliminates the necessity for measuring energy leaks and is independent of any particular model of the mechanism of energy transduction. From two sets of kinetic measurements, an overestimate and an underestimate and thus the upper and lower limits of the mechanistic H+/O ratio could be obtained. In the first set, the utilization of respiratory energy was systematically varied through changes in the concentrations of valinomycin or K+. From the slope of a plot of the initial rates of H+ ejection (JH) and O2 uptake (JO) obtained in such experiments, the upper limit of the H+/O ratio was in the range 4.12-4.19. In the second set of measurements, the rate of respiratory energy production was varied by inhibiting electron transport. From the slope of a plot of JH versus JO, the lower limit of the H+/O ratio, equivalent to that at level flow, was in the range 3.83-3.96. These data fix the mechanistic H+/O ratio for the cytochrome oxidase reaction of mitoplasts at 4.0, thus confirming our earlier measurements (Reynafarje, B., Alexandre, A., Davies, P., and Lehninger, A. L. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 7218-7222). Possible reasons for discrepancies in published reports on the H+/O ratio of cytochrome oxidase in various mitochondrial and reconstituted systems are discussed.

Topics: Animals; Antimycin A; Cyanides; Cytochrome c Group; Kinetics; Liver; Mathematics; Oxygen Consumption; Potassium Chloride; Protons; Rats; Valinomycin

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), an impurity in certain batches of illicit heroin substitutes, is known to cause parkinsonian symptoms and degeneration of the nigrostriatal cells in drug abusers and primates. Neurotoxicity depends on oxidation of MPTP by monoamine oxidase in brain cells to the dihydropyridinium form, which is further oxidized to N-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+), the 4-electron oxidation product. The latter is widely believed to be the compound responsible for neuronal destruction and the NADH dehydrogenase of the inner membrane has been postulated to be its target. This enzyme is inhibited, however, only at very high concentrations of MPP+, while the steady-state concentration of MPP+ in the nigrostriatal cells of MPTP-treated animals is several orders of magnitude lower. This paradox has now been resolved by the discovery of an energized uptake system for MPP+ in mitochondria which rapidly concentrates MPP+ to very high concentrations in the mitochondria at micromolar external concentrations. The process is dependent on the electrical gradient of the membrane, has a Km of about 5 mM, and is completely blocked by respiratory inhibitors and uncouplers.

Topics: 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; 1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium; 2,4-Dinitrophenol; Animals; Antimycin A; Biological Transport; Dinitrophenols; Herbicides; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kinetics; Membrane Potentials; Mitochondria, Liver; Pyridines; Pyridinium Compounds; Rats; Rotenone; Thermodynamics; Valinomycin

5,5'-Dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) (DTNB) is reduced in mitochondrial suspensions to 5-mercapto-2-nitrobenzoate (MNB) by 3-hydroxybutyrate and isocitrate. Although most of the MNB produced is found in the suspension medium, there is also some within the particles. The amount of MNB found in these fraction varies with the DTNB concentration used and is much lower if mitochondrial glutathione (GSH) is depleted with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. If hydroxybutyrate is present, the reduction of DTNB is increased by ATP and oligomycin. The pellet contains only a little MNB and GSH but these are considerably elevated by antimycin and rotenone as well as by ATP and oligomycin. If isocitrate is present, the reduction of DTNB is greatly stimulated by valinomycin, triethyltin and, to a lesser extent, oligomycin. MNB in the pellet falls and GSH concentrations are unchanged. The results suggest that with hydroxybutyrate (an NAD reducing substrate), the rate of reduction of DTNB is limited by the rate of regeneration of GSH while with isocitrate (an NADP reducing substrate) it is limited by the rate of export of MNB from the matrix.

Topics: 3-Hydroxybutyric Acid; Adenosine Triphosphate; Animals; Antimycin A; Dinitrochlorobenzene; Dithionitrobenzoic Acid; Glutathione; Hydroxybutyrates; In Vitro Techniques; Isocitrates; Mitochondria, Liver; Nitrobenzoates; Oligomycins; Oxidation-Reduction; Pentachlorophenol; Rats; Rotenone; Sulfhydryl Compounds; Triethyltin Compounds; Valinomycin

Mouse ascites-tumour cells oxidizing lactate, in a modified Ringer solution, concentrated 2-aminoisobutyrate, L-methionine or 2-(methylamino)isobutyrate about 20-fold from a 0.4 mM solution in the presence of 2-3 micrograms of nigericin/mg cellular dry wt. The ionophore increased cellular [Na+] to almost 100 mM when extracellular [Na+] was about 45 mM. Either valinomycin or the two mitochondrial inhibitors oligomycin and antimycin acting together each markedly lowered the extent to which the tumour cells concentrated amino acid, from the above factor of about 20 to roughly 2-fold. Ouabain (1 mM) had a similar effect, and further raised cellular [Na+]. The sodium pump appeared to be closely involved in amino acid uptake under these conditions.

Topics: Amino Acids; Aminoisobutyric Acids; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antimycin A; Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor; In Vitro Techniques; Mice; Nigericin; Oligomycins; Ouabain; Potassium; Serum Albumin; Sodium; Valinomycin

(1) The kinetics of the change in intensity of 1-ms delayed fluorescence following the onset of illumination have been studied in chromatophores of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata and compared with the kinetics of the light-induced carotenoid shift, and of the change in fluorescence yield. The change in intensity of delayed fluorescence, when plotted on a logarithmic scale, followed closely the kinetics of carotenoid change, but not the change in fluorescence yield. (2) The antibiotics valinomycin, nigericin and antimycin, showed qualitatively similar effects on delayed fluorescence and the carotenoid shift, but the effects on fluorescence yield were quite dissimilar. (3) The extent of the carotenoid shift, induced by KCl pulses in the presence of valinomycin was used to calibrate the change as an indicator of membrane potential. The action of nigericin on both carotenoid shift and delayed fluorescence was used to relate the two, and a linear relationship was demonstrated between the logarithm of the intensity of the delayed fluorescence and the extent of the carotenoid shift. This relationship indicated that the intensity of delayed fluorescence was proportional to the exponential of the membrane potential. (4) It is suggested that the electrical component of the transmembrane electrochemical H+ gradient directly lowers the activation energy for emission, but that the pH component has no such effect.

Topics: Antimycin A; Bacterial Chromatophores; Carotenoids; Fluorescence; Ionophores; Nigericin; Rhodobacter capsulatus; Valinomycin