HETEROGENEITY AND DIFFERENTIAL FRAGILITY OF RAT LIVER MITOCHONDRIA

Abstract

Five fractions (I–V) of intact mitochondria were obtained from rat liver by differential centrifugation during isolation. They represented respectively 4, 9, 64, 11, and 11% of the total mitochondrial protein. No striking differences between mitochondria sedimented at low speed (fraction I) and those sedimented at high speed (fraction V) were seen by electron microscopy. In all samples glutamic dehydrogenase (GD) specific activity was the same after deoxycholate treatment and less than 1% of the total activity could be detected in the fresh fractions. Overnight freezing at −5 °C of fractions I, III, and V followed by thawing at 37 °C liberated 25, 11, and 6% respectively of the total GD activity. The greater fragility of fraction I relative to that of fraction V was also apparent in the phase-contrast microscope during warming to room temperature; lysis occurred in 10 minutes in fraction I and in 1 hour in fraction V. The distribution of GD activity after centrifugation on sucrose density gradients indicated that partial disruption of the mitochondria had occurred in decreasing degree from fractions I to V. The different fragilities of the fractions in vitro did not reflect different lability in vivo since all fractions had the same rates of turnover as measured after they were labeled with14C acetate. The results are discussed in terms of heterogeneities observed by other methods.