The availability of carnitine acetyltransferase in mitochondria from guinea-pig liver and other tissues |
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| Authors: | P J Barker N J Fincham and D C Hardwick |
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| Affiliation: | Agricultural Research Council Institute of Animal Physiology, Babraham, Cambridge |
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| Abstract: | The carnitine acetyltransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities of guinea-pig liver and other tissues were estimated. Both enzymes are wholly mitochondrial, and can only be fully observed after disruption of the mitochondrion. Triton X-100 (0.1%) or freeze-drying revealed more activity than other methods tried. In mitochondria prepared and suspended in 0.25m-sucrose and in cell cytoplasm only small fractions of the total enzymic activity could be observed in guinea-pig liver: on average 7.5% of carnitine acetyltransferase and 5.5% of glutamate dehydrogenase. It is concluded that, in liver or mammary gland of goat, guinea pig or rat, little or no carnitine acetyltransferase is available in vivo to acetyl-CoA outside the mitochondrion. |
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