Synthesis of biologically active spin-labelled radioactive cytidine diphosphodiglyceride, a novel probe for biological membranes.

A versatile synthesis of spin-labelled radioactive cytidine diphospho-sn-1,2-diacylglycerol (CDP-diglyceride) has been developed based on the combination of the enzymatic acylation of radioactive sn-glycero-3-phosphate with 12-doxyl stearic acid and the chemical conversion of the thus obtained spin-labelled radioactive phosphatidic acid with cytidine monophosphomorpholi-date into spin-labelled radioactive CDP-diglyceride. The method for the isolation and purification of the latter compound was described. This obtained CDP-[2-3H]diglyceride contained 10% of fatty acids of paramagnetic nature, presumably present as a covalently bound 12-doxyl stearic acid esters. The biological activity was tested by using the synthesized compound as a substrate in the mitochondrial biosynthesis of phosphatidylglycerol. It was found that spin-labelled CDP-[2-3H]diglyceride prepared as described can be converted in the presence of sn-[2-14C]-glycero-3-phosphate into a spin-labelled [2-3H, 2'-14C]phosphatidylglycerol with isolated rat liver mitochondria, establishing therefore that the site of its utilization is identical with the site of phosphatidylglycerol synthesis in isolated mitochondria, i.e. inner mitochondrial membrane. Results described demonstrate that the synthesized spin-labelled CDP-diglyceride can be used as a specific probe for the spin- and radioactive covalent labelling of polyglycerophosphatides of mitochondrial membranes. Some implications and further possibilities in the study of biological membranes using the spin-labelled radioactive CDP-diglyceride are discussed.     

Ischemia/reperfusion-induced changes in membrane fluidity characteristics of brain capillary endothelial cells and its prevention by liposomal-incorporated superoxide dismutase.

The effect of global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion on cerebral capillary endothelial cell membrane fluidity was examined using electron paramagnetic resonance techniques following 8 minutes of global ischemia and 15 minutes of blood reperfusion. The luminal surface of the cerebral vasculature was perfused with a series of doxyl stearic acid reporters (5-, 12-, 16-doxyl stearic acid) which differ in the site of attachment of the nitroxide free radical on the fatty acid chain. Each doxyl stearic acid reports on membrane fluidity characteristics from different depths within the membrane. Ischemia/reperfusion produced a membrane ordering that was markedly dependent on intramembrane location, and was consistent with changes previously associated with lipid peroxidation. The effect of ischemia/reperfusion on membrane fluidity was maximal in the membrane environment reported by 12-doxyl stearic acid (12-DS). The utilization of a liposomal system was shown to enhance superoxide dismutase delivery to cerebral tissues as well as attenuating the change in membrane order seen following reperfusion-induced lipid peroxidation.     

Thermally induced changes in reconstituted and membranous cytochrome c oxidase.

The Arrhenius plots of electron transport activity in cytochrome c oxidase reconstituted with well-defined phospholipids have been shown to display a change in slope at 20--25 degrees C regardless of the chemical nature of the incorporated lipid. In native membranous cytochrome c oxidase, the discontinuity in Arrhenius activity plot occurred at 16--18 degrees C. These temperature breaks were found to correlate with changes in spin-label mobilities but not with the bulk lipid transition observed by differential scanning calorimetry. Temperature-dependent reciprocal equilibrium between the immobilized and fluid pools is demonstrated. It is suggested that the changes in kinetic and spin-label spectral characteristics in cytochrome c oxidase membranes are related very likely to a lipid-protein interaction prompted by a thermally induced change in the physical state of the lipids that does not involve a gel to liquid crystalline transition.     

Lipid requirements for cytochrome c oxidase activity.

Cytochrome c oxidase depleted of endogenous lipid by detergent exchange has been reconstituted into vesicles with synthetic lipids of known head group and fatty acid composition and enzymic activities have been measured. No evidence for head group specificity was found. However, the enzyme does require the fluid environment provided by unsaturated fatty acids. The state of dispersion of the enzyme was found to affect the activities regenerated in reconstitution studies. The highest activities were obtained using lysolecithin containing an oleoyl fatty acid as the lipid component.     

Studies on cytochrome P-450-dependent lipid hydroperoxide reduction

A reconstituted mixed-function oxidase system containing cytochrome P-450, cytochrome P-450 reductase, phosphatidylcholine, and NADPH catalyzed the reduction of 13-hydroperoxy-9,11-octadecadienoic acid to 13-hydroxy-9,ll-octadecadienoic acid. Activity was stimulated by the addition of type I substrates, while carbon monoxide and oxygen inhibited the reaction. Perfluoro-n-hexane stimulated the reduction of lipid hydroperoxide to lipid alcohol in the reconstituted system but not by cytochrome P-450 alone. Incubation of cytochrome P-450 with only lipid hydroperoxide resulted in destruction of the hemoprotein. Addition of substrates such as aminopyrine decreased cytochrome P-450 destruction. Addition of reducing equivalents from a reconstituted electron transport system also decreased cytochrome P-450 destruction.     

ESR spin-label studies of lipid-protein interactions in membranes

Lipid spin labels have been used to study lipid-protein interactions in bovine and frog rod outer segment disc membranes, in (Na+, K+)-ATPase membranes from shark rectal gland, and in yeast cytochrome oxidase-dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine complexes. These systems all display a two component ESR spectrum from 14-doxyl lipid spin-labels. One component corresponds to the normal fluid bilayer lipids. The second component has a greater degree of motional restriction and arises from lipids interacting with the protein. For the phosphatidylcholine spin label there are effectively 55 +/- 5 lipids/200,000-dalton cytochrome oxidase, 58 +/- 4 mol lipid/265,000 dalton (Na+, K+)-ATPase, and 24 +/- 3 and 22 +/- 2 mol lipid/37,000 dalton rhodopsin for the bovine and frog preparations, respectively. These values correlate roughly with the intramembrane protein perimeter and scale with the square root of the molecular weight of the protein. For cytochrome oxidase the motionally restricted component bears a fixed stoichiometry to the protein at high lipid:protein ratios, and is reduced at low lipid:protein ratios to an extent which can be quantitatively accounted for by random protein-protein contacts. Experiments with spin labels of different headgroups indicate a marked selectivity of cytochrome oxidase and the (Na+, K+)-ATPase for stearic acid and for cardiolipin, relative to phosphatidylcholine. The motionally restricted component from the cardiolipin spin label is 80% greater than from the phosphatidylcholine spin label for cytochrome oxidase (at lipid:protein = 90.1), and 160% greater for the (Na+, K+)-ATPase. The corresponding increases for the stearic acid label are 20% for cytochrome oxidase and 40% for (Na+, K+)-ATPase. The effective association constant for cardiolipin is approximately 4.5 times greater than for phosphatidylcholine, and that for stearic acid is 1.5 times greater, in both systems. Almost no specificity is found in the interaction of spin-labeled lipids (including cardiolipin) with rhodopsin in the rod outer segment disc membrane. The linewidths of the fluid spin-label component in bovine rod outer segment membranes are consistently higher than those in bilayers of the extracted membrane lipids and provide valuable information on the rate of exchange between the two lipid components, which is suggested to be in the range of 10(6)-10(7) s-1.     

Influence of non-esterified fatty acids on respiratory control of reconstituted cytochrome-c oxidase

Bovine heart cytochrome-c oxidase was reconstituted in liposomes (asolectin) and the activity measured in the presence and absence of uncoupler at increasing concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids. Palmitic and stearic acids resulted in a decrease of about 40% in the respiratory control ratio at a concentration of 1 microM, when measured using a spectrophotometric procedure but not with a polarographic assay method. At higher fatty acid concentrations no further change was found. A 50% decrease in respiratory control was determined when the enzyme was reconstituted in pure phosphatidylcholine containing 2% cardiolipin. The respiratory control of reconstituted cytochrome-c oxidase from bovine liver was not influenced by fatty acids.     

Measurements of the proton motive force generated by cytochrome c oxidase from Bacillus subtilis in proteoliposomes and membrane vesicles

Cytochrome c oxidase from Bacillus subtilis was reconstituted in liposomes and its energy-transducing properties were studied. The reconstitution procedure used included Ca2+-induced fusion of pre-formed membranes. The orientation of the enzyme in liposomes is influenced by the phospholipid composition of the membrane. Negatively charged phospholipids are essential for high oxidase activity and respiratory control. Analyses of the proteoliposomes by gel filtration, density gradient centrifugation and electron microscopy indicated a heterogeneity of the proteoliposomes with respect to size and respiratory control. Cytochrome c oxidase activity in the proteoliposomes resulted in the generation of a proton motive force, internally negative and alkaline. In the presence of the electron donor, ascorbate/N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine/cytochrome c or ascorbate/phenazine methosulphate, the reconstituted enzyme generated an electrical potential of 84 mV which was increased by the addition of nigericin to 95 mV and a pH gradient of 32 mV which was increased by the addition of valinomycin to 39 mV. Similar results were obtained with beef-heart cytochrome c oxidase reconstituted in liposomes. The maximal proton motive force which could be generated, assuming no endogenous ion leakage, varied over 110-140 mV. From this the efficiency of energy transduction by cytochrome c oxidase was calculated to be 18-23%, indicating that the oxidase is an efficient proton-motive-force-generating system.     

The lipid composition of a halotolerant species of Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Studies were carried out on the lipid composition of a halotolerant Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated in pure culture from a growth medium for extreme halophiles containing 25% NaCl. The four major polar lipid components in this bacterium were found to be: (a) glycerophosphoryl diglucosyl diglyceride (10% by weight) with structure 3(1)-O-(-sn-glycerol-1-phosphoryl-6'-O=(beta-D glucopyranosyl-(1 leads to 6)- O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-1(3),2-diacyl-sn-glycerol; (b) diglucosyl diglyceride (15% by weight) with structure 3(1)-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl (1 leads to 6)-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-1(3),2-diacyl-sn-glycerol; (c) monoglucosyl diglyceride (3% by weight) with structure 3(1)-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-1(3),2-diacyl-sn-glycerol, and (d) phosphatidylglycerol (60% by weight) with structure 1,2 diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoryl-1'-sn-glycerol. Phosphatidic acid, cardiolipin, lysophosphatidylglycerol and three unidentified phospholipids were also detected in small amounts. Each lipid component had essentially the same fatty acid composition namely, anteiso-15:0 (60-75%), anteiso-17:0 (18-24%), iso-17:0 (8--10%), and small amounts of palmitic and stearic acids (2-5%). The fatty acids were non-randomly distributed in phosphatidylglycerol, the shorter chain anteiso 15:0 fatty acid being exclusively esterified to the 2-position and the longer chain anteiso- and iso-17:0 fatty acids at the 1-position. The fatty acid composition was not affected by increaseing NaCl content in the medium in the rande 0--15% but the proportion of anteiso-15:0 increased greatly when the salt concentration was increased to 25%. The proportions of ionic polar lipids were modified to give an increased net negative charge per mol ionic lipids when NaCl in the medium was increased from 15 to 25%, but the proportions of neutral glycolipids remained fairly constant.     

Interaction of photosensitizers with liposomes containing unsaturated lipid

Small unilamellar liposomes were made of dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine and dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine, and photosensitized by a symmetrically or an asymmetrically substituted glycosilated tetraphenyl-porphyrin derivative. As differential scanning calorimetry and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) revealed these porphyrin derivatives were localized in different depth within the lipid bilayer. Both porphyrin derivatives were able to induce photoreaction and consequent structural changes in the membrane. 5-, 12-, or 16-doxyl stearic acid labeled lipid bilayers were applied and the efficiency of photoinduced reaction was followed by the decay of their EPR signal amplitude. Light dose-dependent destruction of nitroxide radical proved to be dependent on the position of spin label. In this process the porphyrin localized in closer connection with the double bond of unsaturated fatty acid was more effective. EPR signal decay was also dependent on the unsaturated fatty acid content of the liposome and the oxygen saturation of the solvent.     

Biophysical and biochemical characterization of reconstituted and purified Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c oxidase in phospholipid vesicles sheds insight into its functional oligomeric structure

Discontinuous sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation was used to separate liposomes containing Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c oxidase (pCOV) from liposomes devoid of the enzyme, and the biophysical and biochemical properties of pCOV were compared to unpurified liposomes containing cytochrome c oxidase (COV). Isolated and purified R. sphaeroides cytochrome c oxidase (COX) was reconstituted into asolectin phospholipid vesicles by cholate dialysis, and this preparation was purified further on a discontinuous sucrose gradient to isolate only those vesicles which contained the enzyme (pCOV). After centrifugation at 300,000g for 22h, 80% of the enzyme recovered was in a single band. The number of COX molecules per pCOV liposome was estimated by measuring the visible absorbance spectrum of cytochrome c oxidase (for heme aa(3)) and inorganic phosphate concentration (for phospholipid). The number of COX molecules incorporated per pCOV was estimated to be approximately one (0.72+/-0.19-1.09+/-0.28). The pCOV exhibited similar physical properties as COV; respiratory control ratios (indicators of endogenous proton permeability) and maximum enzymatic turnover number at pH 7.4 were comparable (6.0+/-1.3 and 535+/-130s(-1)). Furthermore, proton pumping activities of the pCOV were at least 70% of COV, indicating that discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation is a useful technique for functional experiments in R. sphaeroides cytochrome c oxidase. Our results suggest that the monomeric form of R. sphaeroides COX when reconstituted into a phospholipid bilayer is completely functionally active in its ability to perform electron transfer and proton pumping activities of the enzyme.     

Direct observation of release of cytochrome c from lipid-encapsulated protein by peroxide and superoxide: a possible mechanism for drug-induced apoptosis

Release of cytochrome c from inside lipid vesicles and from inside proteoliposomes formed by cytochrome c oxidase has been studied by spectrophotometric methods. The protein encapsulated inside vesicles did not form complex with sodium azide solution added externally. Both hydrogen peroxide and superoxide were found to cause release of cytochrome c from the lipid encapsulated protein, which was detected from the distinct spectral changes due to the formation of the azide complex of cytochrome c in the solution. Cytochrome c encapsulated inside proteoliposomes containing cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) did not release the cytochrome c during enzymatic turnover of CcO. The anticancer drug, doxorubicin, was found to inhibit the biochemical function of cytochrome c oxidase and release of cytochrome c was observed from the proteoliposome encapsulating the protein during the enzymatic turnover in the presence of doxorubicin. The results indicated that the inhibition of enzymatic activity by doxorubicin possibly leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species, which induce the release of cytochrome c from inside to outside of the membrane.     

Electron spin resonance studies of lipid fluidity changes in membranes of an uncoupler-resistant mutant of Escherichia coli

The fluidity of the lipids in membrane preparations from a mutant of Escherichia coli resistant to the uncoupler CCCP, grown at different temperatures with and without CCCP, was examined by electron spin resonance using the spin probe 5-doxyl stearic acid. The fluidity of the membrane lipids at the growth temperature, as estimated using electron spin resonance, was less in cells grown at lower temperatures. Precise homeoviscous adaptation was not observed. Growth in the presence of CCCP resulted in a decrease in membrane lipid fluidity, particularly in the inner (cytoplasmic) membrane. There was no change in the proportion of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin in the cell envelope. However, there was an increase in the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in membranes from cells grown with uncoupler. This was reflected in the increased fluidity of the lipids extracted from these membranes. This result is contrary to that expected from measurements of the fluidity of the lipid in these membranes. The decreased fluidity of the lipid in these membranes may be a consequence of the observed increase in the ratio of protein to phospholipid.     

Reconstitution of superoxide-forming NADPH oxidase activity with cytochrome b558 purified from porcine neutrophils. Requirement of a membrane-bound flavin enzyme for reconstitution of activity.

Cytochrome b558 of pig blood neutrophils was purified from the membranes of resting cells to examine its ability to reconstitute superoxide (O2-)-forming NADPH oxidase activity in a cell-free assay system containing cytosol and fatty acid. The membrane-associated cytochrome b558 was solubilized with a detergent, n-heptyl beta-thioglucoside, and purified by DEAE-Sepharose, heparin-Sepharose, and Mono Q column chromatography. The final preparation of cytochrome containing 11.5 nmol of protoheme/mg of protein gave bands of the large and small subunits on immunoblotted gel. The cell-free system with the purified cytochrome alone as a membrane component showed little O2(-)-generating activity in the absence of exogenous FAD. However, the system showed high O2(-)-generating activity of 31.8 mol/s/mol of cytochrome b558 (52.5% of the original O2(-)-generating activity of the solubilized membranes) in the presence of a nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reductase fraction that was separated from the cytochrome b fraction by heparin-Sepharose chromatography. Heat treatment of the NBT reductase fraction resulted in loss of the O2(-)-generating activity in the reconstituted system. The O2(-)-forming activity of the reconstituted system was markedly decreased by removal of FAD from the NBT reductase fraction and was restored by readdition of FAD to the FAD-depleted reductase. The reconstituted system containing purified cytochrome b558 plus the NBT reductase showed approximately 100 times higher O2(-)-generating activity than a system containing rabbit liver NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase instead. These results suggest that both the FAD-dependent NBT reductase and cytochrome b558 are required as membrane redox components for O2(-)-forming NADPH oxidase activity. The present data are discussed in comparison with previously reported results on reconstituted systems containing added free FAD.     

Specific inhibition of redox-linked proton pump activity of cytochrome oxidase by oleate hydroperoxide and involvement of ferrocytochrome c in the catabolism of hydroperoxide.

Both oleic acid and oleate hydroperoxide at concentrations below 200 nmol/mg asolectin remarkably depressed the proton pumping of cytochrome c oxidase reconstituted into liposomes but did not affect the respiratory control ratio. The inhibitory effect was comparable to that of N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Oleate hydroperoxide in the vesicles was reduced by ferrocytochrome c in the absence of cytochrome oxidase and converted to the hydroxy fatty acid. This non-enzymatic oxidation of ferrocytochrome c affected slightly the proton pumping and the cytochrome c oxidation by liposomal cytochrome oxidase. A physiological role of ferrocytochrome c in catabolism of the hydroperoxide of fatty acids is thus suggested.     

Electron transfer in monomeric forms of beef and shark heart cytochrome c oxidase

Beef heart cytochrome c oxidase is dimeric in reconstituted membranes and in nonionic detergents at physiological pH [Henderson, R., Capaldi, R. A., & Leigh, J. (1977) J. Mol. Biol. 112, 631; Robinson, N.C., & Capaldi, R. A. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 375], raising the possibility that this aggregation state is a prerequisite for enzymatic activity. A procedure for dissociating the enzyme into monomers is presented. This involves treating the protein with high concentrations of Triton X-100 at pH 8.5. The electron transfer activity of the monomer is comparable to that of the dimer under identical assay conditions. The beef heart cytochrome c oxidase monomer was found to be heterogeneous in hydrodynamic studies, probably due to dissociation of associated polypeptides, including subunit III. Monomer molecular weights in the range 129 000-160 000 were obtained. Previous studies have indicated that shark heart cytochrome c oxidase is monomeric under physiological conditions. Sedimentation equilibrium studies reported here confirm this. The elasmobranch enzyme, with a similar polypeptide composition to that of beef enzyme, was determined to have a molecular weight of 158 000.     

Lipid-protein interaction in reconstituted cytochrome c oxidase/phospholipid membranes.

Deuterium and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance have been employed in an investigation of the effect of cytochrome c oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) on the structure of lecithin bilayers. Cytochrome c oxidase was isolated from beef heart mitochondria in lipid-free form and reconstituted as a functional enzyme in bilayers composed of synthetic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. Two separate reconstitution experiments were performed in which the lipid was selectively deuterated either at the C-5' or at the C-14' segment of the palmitic acyl chain. The phospholipid-to-protein ratio of both reconstituted complexes was 0.74 (mg/mg), corresponding to about 200 molecules lipid per molecule cytochrome c oxidase. The deuterium quadrupole splitting deltanuQ, and the phosphorus chemical shielding anisotropy, deltasigma, of the cytochrome c oxidase-phospholipid recombinants were measured as a function of temperature and compared to the results obtained for the pure lipid membrane without protein for the pure lipid membrane without protein. deltanuQ and deltasigma are highly sensitive to the structural organization of the lipid membrane and these measurements demonstrate that the incorporation of cytochrome c oxidase into phosphatidylcholine bilayers leads to a more disordered conformational state of the lipids. This result can be explained by a rapid exchange between lipids in direct contact with hydrophobic protein and those further away from it (exchange rate greater than 10(4) Hz). The irregular protein surface is sensed by all lipid molecules and induces a more disordered bilayer structure. In contrast to previous interpretations, our measurements do not suggest a special type of boundary lipid.     

Cardiolipin-depleted bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase: binding stoichiometry and affinity for cardiolipin derivatives

Detergent-solubilized bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase requires 2 mol of tightly bound cardiolipin (CL) per mole of monomeric complex for functional activity. Four lines of evidence support this conclusion: (1) Phospholipid depletion shows that two tightly bound CL's must remain associated with cytochrome c oxidase in order to maintain full electron transport activity. (2) Removal of the two tightly bound CL's correlates with decreased activity that is restored by reassociation of 2 mol of exogenous CL. (3) CL-depleted cytochrome c oxidase has two high-affinity binding sites for 2-[14C]acetylcardiolipin (AcCL), Kd,app less than 0.1 microM, that are not present in enzyme containing endogenous CL. An additional 2-3 lower affinity AcCL binding sites, Kd,app = 4 microM, are present in the CL-depleted complex, but these sites are also present in enzyme containing endogenous CL. (4) CL, monolysocardiolipin (MLCL), and dilysocardiolipin (DLCL) compete for AcCL binding with approximately the same relative affinities as those measured by the restoration of electron transport activity (MLCL competes much better than DLCL). However, MLCL and DLCL are only 60% and 15% as effective as CL in restoring maximum activity when they are bound to the high-affinity sites. The binding specificity of CL, MLCL, DLCL, and some of their acylated derivatives indicates that the apolar tails are most important for binding, not the polar head group. The presence or absence of hydroxyl groups in CL, MLCL, or DLCL also has little effect upon binding affinities. Binding specificity clearly favors CL since phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, and phosphatidylcholine each have very low affinity for the CL binding sites (Kd,app greater than 20 microM). We, therefore, conclude that restoration of activity to CL-depleted cytochrome c oxidase is highly specific and requires the reassociation of CL, or structurally similar compounds, with two high-affinity binding sites.     

Kinetic profile of the cellular lipid composition in an oleaginous Yarrowia lipolytica capable of producing a cocoa-butter substitute from industrial fats

Cell growth, lipid accumulation and cellular lipid composition of Yarrowia lipolytica growing on mixtures of industrial fats containing stearic, oleic, linoleic and palmitic acid have been studied. During growth, the strain incorporated oleic and linoleic acids more rapidly than the saturated fatty acids. Relatively high lipid accumulation (up to 0.44 g of lipids per g of dry matter) was observed when stearic acid was included in the culture medium. In contrast, substrates rich in oleic acid did not favor cellular lipid accumulation. The accumulated lipids, mainly composed of triacylglycerols (45-55% w/w), demonstrated a different total fatty acid composition compared with that of the substrate; in all cases, the microorganism showed the unusual capacity to increase its cellular stearic acid level, even if this fatty acid was not found in high concentrations in the substrate. This permitted the synthesis of interesting lipid profiles with high percentages of stearic acid and non-negligible percentages of palmitic and oleic acid, with a composition resembling that of cocoa-butter.     

Reconstitution of the lipid-depleted pyruvate oxidase system of Escherichia coli: the palmitic acid effect

Previous work has shown that the coupling of the soluble Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase to a lipid-depleted membrane terminal electron transport system requires the addition of ubiquinone and a neutral lipid fraction (C. Cunningham and L. P. Hager (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 7139-7146). The active factor present in the neutral lipid fraction has now been isolated and characterized. NMR, uv, and mass spectroscopic analysis identifies palmitic acid as the active component. A comparison of palmitic acid with other fatty acids of varying chain lengths indicates that most fatty acids having chain lengths in the range C12 to C20 have comparable activity to palmitic acid. Exceptions are stearic and arachidic acid which have greatly reduced activity. Fatty acids of C6 to C10 chain length showed about one third the activity of palmitic acid. Fatty acids having chain lengths of 2 to 5 carbon atoms are essentially inactive. The carboxyl function of the fatty acid is required for activity. Derivatives of fatty acids in which the carboxyl group had been modified to an alcohol, aldehyde, or methyl ester function show greatly diminished activity. Both the cis and trans forms of unsaturated long-chain fatty acids are active. The stimulation of the electron transfer reaction by fatty acids occurs at the ubiquinone level of the electron transport chain. Ubiquinone-30 is rapidly reduced by pyruvate oxidase only in the presence of palmitic acid.