STUDIES OF FATTY ACID OXIDATION: 5. THE EFFECT OF DECANOIC ACID ON OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION

Abstract

The effects of potassium decanoate on the phosphorylation associated with the oxidation of pyruvate by rat-kidney and rat-brain mitochondria have been investigated. The suggestion that these 2 processes may be uncoupled from each other in the presence of decanoate has been confirmed. Further, it has been shown that the decanoate-insensitive oxidation of pyruvate by rat-brain mitochondria, occurring in the absence of such stimulating agents as fumarate, is not associated with ATP synthesis. The fumarate-stimulated oxidation of pyruvate by rat-brain mitochondria, which is inhibited by decanoate, is associated with a phosphorylation process which is uncoupled by decanoate. When pyruvate oxidation by rat-kidney or by rat-brain mitochondria is uncoupled from phosphorylation, the extent of uncoupling is proportional to the amount of decanoate added.