Protease digestion of membranes. Ultrastructural and biochemical effects.

(1) Nagarse, a bacterial protease, was permitted to react with sarcoplasmic reticulum, submitochondrial and plasma membranes. Gel electrophoresis indicated that all polypeptides were labile to the enzyme, and therefore must be at least partially exposed at membrane surfaces. However, hydrolysis did not proceed to completion, and in each membrane 30-50% of the original protein mass remained after extensive digestion. Gel patterns showed that remaining polypeptide fragments were in the range of 10000 molecular weight. (2) Amino acid analysis of the original protein and membrane-bound digestion product was performed. Only minor changes were observed following digestion, suggesting that the peptide fragments remaining with the membrane did not have specialized amino acid compositions. (3) freeze-fracture analysis of Nagarse-treated sarcoplasmic and plasma membranes showed that particulate structures were present, although particle density and asymmetry of fistribution between fracture faces were decreased. In submitochondrial membranes, digested membranes were indistinguishable from the original membranes in particle density and distribution. We conclude that high molecular weight polypeptides are not required for the production particulate structures in freeze-fracture images of membranes.     

Tightly-bound ATP and ADP in reconstituted submitochondrial particles.

Soluble beef-heart mitochondrial ATPase (F₁) which was depleted of tightly bound nucleotide was reconstituted with depleted submitochondrial particles and oligomycin-sensitivity conferring protein. A correlation was noted between the recovery of energy-transduction capability and the reloading of tightly bound nucleotide. Reconstituted membrane-bound F₁ contained both ATP and ADP tightly bound; the total (ATP and ADP) was tentatively calculated to be around 3.6 moles per mole membrane-bound F₁.     

Specific inhibition of phosphate transport in mitochondria by N-ethylmaleimide

N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), a reagent that alkylates free sulfhydryl groups, was shown to be a highly effective inhibitor of the following coupled mitochondrial processes: oxidative phosphorylation, ATP-³²Pi exchange, Pi-induced light scattering and configurational changes, State III respiration, valinomycin-induced translocation of potassium with Pi as the anion, and calcium accumulation in presence of Pi. However, NEM was less effective or ineffective in inhibiting some processes that do not require inorganic Pi, namely electron transfer and ATPase activity, ADP binding, energized light scattering changes induced by arsenate and nonenergized light scattering changes induced by acetate. The rate of oxidative phosphorylation and of ATP-³²Pi exchange was normal in ETP_H particles prepared from NEM-treated mitochondria. Also NEM, even et levels 2–3 times greater than those required to inhibit oxidative phosphorylation in intact mitochondria, did not inhibit coupled processes in submitochondrial particles. We are proposing that NEM alkylates sulfhydryl groups in the mitochondrion that modulate Pi translocation, and that the suppression of Pi translocation blocks oxidative phosphorylation, the Pi-dependent energized configurational change in mitochondria and Pi-dependent transport processes.On leave of absence from the Department of Biochemistry, Cancer Institute Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan.On leave of absence from the Department of Pathology, Nagoya University Medical School, Nagoya, Japan.     

The orientation of iron-sulfur clusters and a spin-coupled ubiquinone pair in the mitochondrial membrane

Oriented multilayers made from beef heart and yeast mitochondria and submitochondrial particles were studied using electron paramagnetic resonance. EPR signals from membrane-bound iron-sulfur clusters and from a spin-coupled ubiquinone pair are highly orientation dependent, implying that these redox centers are fixed in the membrane at definite angles relative to the membrane plane. Typically the iron-iron axis (g_z) of the binuclear iron-sulfur clusters is in the membrane plane. This finding is discussed in terms of the protein structure. the tetranuclear iron-sulfur clusters can have their g_z axis either perpendicular or parallel to the membrane plane, but intermediate orientation was not observed.     

Exploration of nucleotide binding sites in the mitochondrial membrane by 2-azido-[α-P]ADP

The ADP/ATP carrier of beef heart mitochondria is able to bind 2-azido-[α-³²P]ADP in the dark with a K_d value of 8 μM. 2-Azido ADP is not transported and it inhibits ADP transport and ADP binding. Photoirradiation of beef heart mitochondria with 2-azido-[α-³²P]ADP results mainly in photolabeling of the ADP/ATP carrier protein; photolabeling is prevented by carboxyatractyloside, a specific inhibitor of ADP/ATP transport. Upon photoirradiation of inside-out submitochondrial particles with 2-azido-[α-³²P]ADP, both the ADP/ATP carrier and the β subunit of the membrane-bound F₁-ATPase are covalently labeled. The binding specificity of 2-azido-[α-³²P]ADP for the β subunit of F₁-ATPase is ascertained by prevention of photolabeling of isolated F₁ by preincubation with an excess of ADP.     

Effect of chronic ethanol consumption on energy-linked processes associated with oxidative phosphorylation: Proton translocation and ATP-Pi exchange

Male rats were administered an ethanol-containing diet for 31 days during which time they demonstrated fatty liver. Mitochondria and submitochondrial particles were prepared from their livers (ethanol mitochondria, ethanol submitochondrial particles) and from their pair-fed partners (control mitochondria, control submitochondrial particles). The H⁺/coupling site ratio was not significantly different in ethanol and control mitochondria with succinate as electron donor. A 13% decrease in the H⁺/coupling site ratio was observed in ethanol mitochondria, however, when β-hydroxybutyrate was used as substrate. The rate of ATP-P_i exchange was decreased significantly in both ethanol mitochondria and submitochondrial particles as compared to control preparations. These observations demonstrate ethanol-elicited decreases in energy conservation in the site I region of the electron transport chain and in the activity of the ATP synthetase complex.     

Oxido-Reduction States and Natural Homologue of Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q) in Submitochondrial Particles From Etiolated Mung Bean (Phaseolus aureus) Seedlings

A procedure for the isolation of submitochondrial particles in quantity from etiolated Mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) seedlings is described. Using a combination of acetone extraction and 2 systems of thin layer chromatography ubiquinone has been isolated. The isolated ubiquinone migrates coincident with authentic ubiquinone-10 in reversed phase thin layer partition chromatography, gives a positive Craven's test, and has oxidized and reduced spectra characteristic of ubiquinone. The quinone is partially reduced under steady-state electron transfer conditions with both succinate and NADH as substrates and is almost completely reduced under anaerobic conditions with either substrate. The concentration of ubiquinone in the particle is of the order of 4.4 mμmoles per mg particle protein, approximately equal to that found in similar submitochondrial particles from beef heart. It is tentatively concluded that ubiquinone-10 is a functional member of the mitochondrial electron transfer chain of Phaseolus aureus.     

An inhibitory high affinity binding site for ADP in the oligomycin-sensitive ATPase of beef heart submitochondrial particles.

Kinetic evidence are presented for the existence of a high affinity inhibitory site for ADP /K_i < 10^?7 M/ in the oligomycin-sensitive ATPase of beef heart submitochondrial particles. The ATPase·ADP complex is completely inactive in the ATPase reaction; it can be converted into active ATPase in a slow ATP-dependent reaction. The dependence of a first order rate constant for activation of the enzyme·ADP complex on concentration of ATP gives a K_m value equal to that for ATP in the ATPase reaction. The data obtained suggest that the membrane-bound ATPase complex contains two kinetically distinct nucleotide-binding centers, i.e. center 1 binds ATP or ADP with a formation of enzyme-substrate or enzyme-competitive inhibitor complexes: center 2 binds ADP with a formation of a complex which is able to bind ATP in center 1 and unable to hydrolyze the bound ATP. The binding of ATP or ADP in center 1 changes the reactivity of center 2 towards ADP.     

Phosphorylative fumarate reduction in Vibrio succinogenes: Stoichiometry of ATP synthesis

1. Cells of Vibrio succinogenes, treated with EDTA at pH 8, catalyze the phosphorylation of their endogenous ADP and AMP as a function of the electron transport from formate to fumarate. The P/fumarate ratio obtained from the initial velocity of the phosphorylation on initiation of the electron transport and from the activity of fumarate reduction in the steady state was 0.90. The phosphorylation was prevented by 10μmol/g protein carbonylcyanide-3-chlorophenylhydrazone.
2. The esterification of external phosphate in the presence of ADP, hexokinase and glucose is catalysed by a membrane preparation of V. succinogenes in the steady state of fumarate reduction by H₂. The phosphorylation was fully abolished by either 5μmol/g protein carbonylcyanide-4-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone or 30μmol/g protein carbonylcyanide-3-chlorphenylhydrazone. Phosphorylation was blocked also by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, an inhibitor of the Mg²⁺-dependent membrane bound ATP synthase, and by low concentrations of the inhibitors of electron transport 2-(n-nonyl)-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide or 4-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate.
3. The P/fumarate ratios, measured with the membrane preparation, were found to increase with progressive inhibition of the electron transport from hydrogen to fumarate by means of 4-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate. The extrapolated ratio at vanishing electron transport activity was 0.47.
4. About 50% of the membrane preparation was found to consist of inverted vesicles with the hydrogenase and formate dehydrogenase oriented to the inside. The residual part is considered as being incapable of performing energy transduction. The extrapolated P/fumarate ratio valid for the inverted vesicles was 0.94.

     

Isolation and properties of OSCP and an F1-ATPase binding protein from rat liver mitochondria - evidence against OSCP as the linking "stalk" between F1 and the membrane.

Oligomycin Sensitivity Conferral Protein (OSCP) and an F₁-ATPase Binding Protein were isolated from F₁-depleted rat liver mitochondrial membrane. Their molecular weights on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and urea were 22,500 and 8,500 respectively. When incubated with liver TUA (trypsin, urea and ammonia-treated) submitochondrial particles, the binding protein was effective in the binding of F₁ to the particles with the resultant particle-bound ATPase activity not oligomycin sensitive. When OSCP was then incubated with the reconstituted membrane-bound ATPase, its activity became oligomycin sensitive. These results suggest that, first; the binding protein, but not OSCP, connects F₁-ATPase to the membrane of rat liver mitochondria and maybe to the “stalk”, if indeed there is a stalk in mitochondrial membrane ATPase complex; and second; the function of OSCP is solely to render the ATPase activity sensitive to oligomycin and other similar inhibitors.     

Photo-oxidation of membrane-bound and soluble cytochromec in the green sulfur bacteriumChlorobium tepidum

We studied the photosynthetic electron transfer system of membrane-bound and soluble cytochromec inChlorobium tepidum, a thermophilic green sulfur bacterium, using whole cells and membrane preparations. Sulfide and thiosulfate, physiological electron donors, enhanced flash-induced photo-oxidation ofc-type cytochromes in whole cells. In membranes,c-553 cytochromes with two (or three) heme groups served as immediate electron donors for photo-oxidized bacteriochlorophyll (P840) in the reaction center, and appeared to be closely associated with the reaction center complex. The membrane-bound cytochromec-553 had anE _m-value of 180 mV. When isolated soluble cytochromec-553, which has an apparent molecular weight of 10 kDa and seems to correspond to the cytochromec-555 inChlorobium limicola andChlorobium vibrioforme, was added to a membrane suspension, rapid photo-oxidation of both soluble and membrane-bound cytochromesc-553 was observed. The oxidation of soluble cytochromec-553 was inhibited by high salt concentrations. In whole cells, photo-oxidation was observed in the absence of exogenous electron donors and re-reduction was inhibited by stigmatellin, an inhibitor of the cytochromebc complex. These results suggest that the role of membrane-bound and soluble cytochromec inC. tepidum is similar to the role of cytochromec in the photosynthetic electron transfer system of purple bacteria.     

2H2O effect on the electron and proton flow in isolated chloroplasts. An indication for lateral heterogeneity of membrane pH

To determine how the actual pH on the membrane surfaces regulate the redox reactions, a study of the electron and proton flow in thylakoids was made in heavy water, in which ²H⁺ has a smaller mobility than ¹H⁺. The decrease of the redox rates by ²H₂O is stronger in coupled than in uncoupled conditions, although the bulk ΔpH is slightly diminished; therefore changing ¹H⁺ by ²H⁺ enhances the electron transfer control. This is particularly so when the two systems are linearly connected: i.e. the plastoquinone pool, not the water-splitting complex, is the main point of the redox chain regulation by ΔpH and of the deuterium action. The role of the proton diffusion barriers is emphasized and the concept of a heterogeneity—accentuated in ²H₂O - of the pH along the membrane is proposed. The corresponding local pH , different at the points of H⁺ active translocation and passive leakage, would be the real factors controlling the membrane-bound processes.     

Tightly bound nucleotides of the energy-transducing ATPase,and their role in oxidative phosphorylation. I. The Paracoccus denitrificans system

1. The coupling ATPase of Paracoccus denitrificans can be removed from the membrane by washing coupled membrane fragments at low salt concentrations.2. This ATPase resembles coupling ATPases of mitochondria, chloroplasts and other bacteria. It is a negatively charged protein of molecular weight about 300 000. An inhibitor protein is bound tightly to the ATPase in vivo, and can be destroyed by trypsin treatment.3. ATP and ADP are found tightly bound to the coupling ATPase of P. denitrificans, both in its membrane-bound and isolated state. The ATP/ADP ratio on the enzyme is greater than one.4. Under de-energised conditions, the bound nucleotides are not available to the suspending medium. When the membrane is energised however, the bound nucleotides can exchange with added nucleotides and incorporate ³²P_i. ³²P_i is incorporated into the β and γ positions of the bound nucleotides, but β-labelling probably does not occur on the coupling ATPase.5. Uncouplers inhibit the exchange of the free nucleotides or ³²P_i into the bound nucleotides, while venturicidin (an energy transfer inhibitor) and aurovertin stimulate the exchange.6. The response of the bound nucleotides to energisation is consistent with their being involved directly in the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation.     

The mitochondrial small heat-shock protein protects NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase of the electron transport chain during heat stress in plants

Functional inactivation of the mitochondrial small heat-shock protein (lmw Hsp) in submitochondrial vesicles using protein-specific antibodies indicated that this protein protects NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I), and consequently electron transport from complex I to cytochrome c:O₂ oxidoreductase (complex IV). Lmw Hsp function completely accounted for heat acclimation of complex I electron transport in pre-heat-stressed plants. Addition of purified lmw Hsp to submitochondrial vesicles lacking this Hsp increased complex I electron transport rates 100% in submitochondrial vesicles assayed at high temperatures. These results indicate that production of the mitochondrial lmw Hsp is an important adaptation to heat stress in plants.     

Interaction between ubiquinone and ATPase in mitochondrial membranes

The extraction of ubiquinone from mitochondrial membranes produces alterations of ATPase activity including a reversible loss of oligomycin sensitivity which is restored by long-chain Q-homologs. Short-chain ubiquinones like Q₃ produce a loss of oligomycin and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) sensitivity in submitochondrial particles. The effect shows uncompetitive or noncompetitive kinetics with respect to oligomycin or DCCD respectively. Long-chain ubiquinones have a competitive effect with Q₃, thus restoring oligomycin sensitivity; they behave, however, in about the same way as Q₃ in lowering the DCCD sensitivity in submitochondrial particles. On the basis of these observations we suggest that ubiquinone may be a physiological modulator of ATPase activity in the mitochondrial membrane.Abbreviations used: BHM, beef heart mitochondria; DCCD, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide; ETP, electron transfer particles (submitochondrial particles); Q, ubiquinone.     

Quantitation of the energetic state in mitochondria and submitochondrial vesicles with 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid

Some of the apparently anomalous findings made with the fluorescent probe 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid (ANS) have been reinvestigated using rat liver mitochondria. The results have been found compatible with current views on energy conservation.The direction of fluorescence and proton flux changes under different conditions have been delineated. The relation of these results to consideration of membrane polarity and organization is discussed.The reliability of ANS fluorescence changes in determining the level of energization of mitochondria and submitochondrial preparations is discussed.Abbreviations used ANS 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid - F _E and H⁺ _E O₂ dependent change in fluorescence and H⁺ in mitochondria and SMP - SMP submitochondrial preparation     

Hysteresis behavior of complex I in delta mu H+-dependent reduction of NAD+ succinate

It was shown that the membrane-bound complex I is fully inactive in the absence of NADH during the reverse electron transfer from succinate to NAD+. The enzyme activation is attained by preincubation of submitochondrial particles with low concentrations of NADH; the activating effect persists after a complete oxidation of the latter during long-term (several hours) aerobic incubation. The experimental results suggest that complex I contains a redox component, whose reduction by NADH and aerobic oxidation are not involved in the overall catalytic reaction. An experimental scheme is proposed, according to which the key role of such a component is ascribed to the tightly bound ubiquinone; the activation and inactivation of the enzyme are due to a slow reversible redox conversion (ubiquinone in equilibrium ubisemiquinone), whereas the catalytic act involves a rapid reversible conversion (ubisemiquinone in equilibrium ubiquinol). It was demonstrated that the "redox" mechanism of the inactivation-activation reaction determines the strong dependence of activity of the reverse electron transfer on the mode of preparation of submitochondrial particles. The coupling properties of the submitochondrial particulate membrane and the activities of enzymes involved in the reverse electron transfer are stable at room temperature for over 14 hours.     

Peroxidase and Tyrosinase Are Present in Secondary Lysosomes That Degrade Photosensory Membranes of the Crayfish Photoreceptor: Possible Role in Pigment Granule Formation

Three enzymes (acid phosphatase, peroxidase, and tyrosinase) were localized by electron microscopy within the retina of crayfish Orconectes limosus. Peroxidase activity was observed only in lamellar bodies, which are secondary lysosomes and degrade photosensory membrane. After H₂O₂ was omitted from the reaction medium, peroxidase activity in lamellar bodies was partly inhibited but was not missing completely. After addition of sodium pyruvate, which inhibits endogenous generation of H₂O₂, staining of lamellar bodies was absent. Tyrosinase activity was found in lamellar bodies and in small vesicles within the rhabdoms similar to those found positive for acid phosphatase. Granules (500–700 nm in diameter) with an electron opaque matrix and mature screening pigment granules showed tyrosinase activity. Moreover, lamellar structures within membrane-bound organelles that additionally contained screening pigment-like granules were electron dense because of tyrosinase activity. After addition of phenylthiourea (PTU) to the incubation medium, lamellar bodies did not generally contain electron dense deposits, although weak staining of single membranes still was sometimes observed. After addition of sodium pyruvate in combination with PTU, no staining was detected. The possible role of tyrosinase in ommochrome synthesis within secondary lysosomes that degrade photosensory membrane is discussed.     

Interaction of F1-ATPase, from ox heart mitochondria with its naturally occurring inhibitor protein. Studies using radio-iodinated inhibitor protein

The ox heart mitochondrial inhibitor protein may be iodinated with up to 0.8 mol 125I per mol inhibitor with no loss of inhibitory activity, with no change in binding affinity to submitochondrial particles, and without alteration in the response of membrane-bound inhibitor to energisation. Tryptic peptide maps reveal a single labelled peptide, consistent with modification of the single tyrosine residue of the protein. A single type of high-affinity binding site (Kd=96 . 10 (-9)M) for the inhibitor protein has been measured in submitochondrial particles. The concentration of this site is proportional to the amount of membrane-bound F1, and there appears to be one such site per F1 molecule. The ATp hydrolytic activity of submitochondrial particles is inversely proportional to the occupancy of the high-affinity binding site for the inhibitor protein. No evidence is found for a non-inhibitory binding site on the membrane or on other mitochondrial proteins. In intact mitochondria from bovine heart, the inhibitor protein is present in an approx. 1:1 ratio with F1. Submitochondrial particles prepared by sonication of these mitochondria with MgATP contain about 0.75 mol inhibitor protein per mol F1, and show about 25% of the ATPase activity of inhibitor-free submitochondrial particles. Additional inhibitor protein can be bound to these particles to a level of 0.2 mol/mol F1, with consequent loss of ATPase activity. If MgATP is omitted from the medium, or inhibitors of ATP hydrolysis are present, the rate of combination between F1 and its inhibitor protein is very much reduced. The equilibrium level of binding is, however, unaltered. These results suggest the presence of a single, high-affinity, inhibitory binding site for inhibitor protein on membrane-bound F1. The energisation of coupled submitochondrial particles by succinate oxidation or by ATP hydrolysis results in both the dissociation of inhibitor protein into solution, and the activation of ATP hydrolysis. At least 80% of the membrane-bound F1-inhibitor complex responds to this energisation by participating in a new equilibrium between bound and free inhibitor protein. This finding suggests that a delocalised energy pool is important in promoting inhibitor protein release from F1. Dissipation of the electrochemical gradient by uncouplers, or the binding of oligomycin or efrapetin effectively blocks energised release of the inhibitor protein. Conversely, the addition of aurovertin or adenosine 5'--[beta, lambda--imido]triphosphate enhances energy-driven release. The mode of action of various inhibitors on binding and energised release of the protein inhibitor is discussed.