Biomaterial Database

The K+/site and H+/site stoichiometry of mitochondrial electron transport. 1978

B Reynafarje, and A L Lehninger

Electrode measurements of the average number of H+ ejected and K+ taken up (in the presence of valinomycin) per pair of electrons passing the energy-conserving sites of the respiratory chain of rat liver and rat heart mitochondria have given identical values of the H+/site and 5+/site ratios very close to 4 in the presence of N-ethylmaleimide, an inhibitor of interfering respiration-coupled uptake of H+ + H2PO4-. The K+/site uptake ratio of 4 not only shows that inward movement of K+ provides quantitative charge-compensation for the 4 H+ ejected, but also confirms that 4 charges are separated per pair of electrons per site. When N-ethylmaleimide is omitted, the H+/site ejection ratio is depressed, because of the interfering secondary uptake of H/+ with H2PO4- on the phosphate carrier, but the K+/site uptake ratio remains at 4.0. Addition of phosphate or acetate, which can carry H+ into respiring mitochondria, further depresses the H+/site ratio, but does not affect the K+/site ratio, which remains at 4.0. These and other considerations thus confirm our earlier stoichiometric measurements that the average H+/site ratio is 4.0 and also show that the K+/site uptake ratio can be used as a measure of the intrinsic H+/site ratio, regardless of the presence of phosphate in the medium and without the necessity of adding N-ethylmaleimide or other inhibitors of H+ + H2PO4- transport.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008293	Malates	Derivatives of malic acid (the structural formula: (COO-)2CH2CHOH), including its salts and esters.
D008297	Male		Males
D008928	Mitochondria	Semiautonomous, self-reproducing organelles that occur in the cytoplasm of all cells of most, but not all, eukaryotes. Each mitochondrion is surrounded by a double limiting membrane. The inner membrane is highly invaginated, and its projections are called cristae. Mitochondria are the sites of the reactions of oxidative phosphorylation, which result in the formation of ATP. They contain distinctive RIBOSOMES, transfer RNAs (RNA, TRANSFER); AMINO ACYL T RNA SYNTHETASES; and elongation and termination factors. Mitochondria depend upon genes within the nucleus of the cells in which they reside for many essential messenger RNAs (RNA, MESSENGER). Mitochondria are believed to have arisen from aerobic bacteria that established a symbiotic relationship with primitive protoeukaryotes. (King & Stansfield, A Dictionary of Genetics, 4th ed)	Mitochondrial Contraction,Mitochondrion,Contraction, Mitochondrial,Contractions, Mitochondrial,Mitochondrial Contractions
D008929	Mitochondria, Heart	The mitochondria of the myocardium.	Heart Mitochondria,Myocardial Mitochondria,Mitochondrion, Heart,Heart Mitochondrion,Mitochondria, Myocardial
D008930	Mitochondria, Liver	Mitochondria in hepatocytes. As in all mitochondria, there are an outer membrane and an inner membrane, together creating two separate mitochondrial compartments: the internal matrix space and a much narrower intermembrane space. In the liver mitochondrion, an estimated 67% of the total mitochondrial proteins is located in the matrix. (From Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2d ed, p343-4)	Liver Mitochondria,Liver Mitochondrion,Mitochondrion, Liver
D009243	NAD	A coenzyme composed of ribosylnicotinamide 5'-diphosphate coupled to adenosine 5'-phosphate by pyrophosphate linkage. It is found widely in nature and is involved in numerous enzymatic reactions in which it serves as an electron carrier by being alternately oxidized (NAD+) and reduced (NADH). (Dorland, 27th ed)	Coenzyme I,DPN,Diphosphopyridine Nucleotide,Nadide,Nicotinamide-Adenine Dinucleotide,Dihydronicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide,NADH,Adenine Dinucleotide, Dihydronicotinamide,Dinucleotide, Dihydronicotinamide Adenine,Dinucleotide, Nicotinamide-Adenine,Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide,Nucleotide, Diphosphopyridine
D010101	Oxygen Consumption	The rate at which oxygen is used by a tissue; microliters of oxygen STPD used per milligram of tissue per hour; the rate at which oxygen enters the blood from alveolar gas, equal in the steady state to the consumption of oxygen by tissue metabolism throughout the body. (Stedman, 25th ed, p346)	Consumption, Oxygen,Consumptions, Oxygen,Oxygen Consumptions
D011188	Potassium	An element in the alkali group of metals with an atomic symbol K, atomic number 19, and atomic weight 39.10. It is the chief cation in the intracellular fluid of muscle and other cells. Potassium ion is a strong electrolyte that plays a significant role in the regulation of fluid volume and maintenance of the WATER-ELECTROLYTE BALANCE.
D011773	Pyruvates	Derivatives of PYRUVIC ACID, including its salts and esters.
D004579	Electron Transport	The process by which ELECTRONS are transported from a reduced substrate to molecular OXYGEN. (From Bennington, Saunders Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Laboratory Medicine and Technology, 1984, p270)	Respiratory Chain,Chain, Respiratory,Chains, Respiratory,Respiratory Chains,Transport, Electron