Adenosine 5'-monophosphate-removing system in fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase assay mixture: a new approach

An improved procedure for the isolation of mitochondria in high yields from normal and oxygen-deficient myocardium is described. The heart muscle is digested with Nagarse and homogenized simultaneously using a Polytron tissue homogenizer. Mitochondria are isolated by differential centrifugation, and othe subcellular fractions are carefully rinsed to maximize mitochondrial yields. Yields of 28 to 33 mg of mitochondrial protein/g wet wt of heart were obtained from normal (nonperfused and control perfused) hearts and from oxygen deficient (ischemic and autolyzed) hearts. This represents a recovery of 52 to 61% of the total mitochondrial content of the tissue. These mitochondria are functionally intact, with respiratory control ratios of 5.0 to 7.6 and $\text{ADP}\text{O}$ ratios of 2.34 to 2.66. The lysosomal content of the mitochondrial preparations was not increased by this procedure. This method is especially suitable for the preparation of mitochondria in high yield from a single heart, but can also be used to obtain high yields of mitochondria from larger quantities of myocardial tissue.