scholarly journals CORTISONE-INDUCED ALTERATIONS IN MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION AND STRUCTURE

1968 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel V. Kimberg ◽  
Alden V. Loud ◽  
Joseph Wiener

The effects of cortisone treatment on oxygen consumption, oxidative phosphorylation, and fine structure of rat liver mitochondria have been studied. Male rats weighing 125 g were treated for 6 days with 5 mg of cortisone acetate or isotonic saline. On the 7th day, sections of liver were excised and processed for light and electron microscopy. Mitochondrial respiration and oxidative phosphorylation were studied with mitochondria isolated from these livers. Cortisone treatment is responsible for a 14–40% decrease in the amount of oxygen consumed per mg of mitochondrial protein when succinate, α-ketoglutarate, or ß-hydroxybutyrate are used as substrates, or with ascorbate and N,N,N1,N1-tetramethyl p-phenylenediamine as electron donors. In addition, oxidative phosphorylation is uncoupled with a lowering of the P:O ratios. Randomly selected liver cells have been analyzed by quantitative morphometric techniques. The average mitochondrial volume is increased fourfold in the peripheral and midzonal regions with a commensurate decrease in the number of mitochondria per cell. These alterations are present throughout the hepatic lobule, but are most marked in midzonal cells. The total mitochondrial volume per cell and the per cent of the total cytoplasmic volume occupied by mitochondria remains relatively unaltered, as does the total amount of cristae surface per cell. While the mitochondria are enlarged, they are not "swollen." The relationships between the steroid hormone treatment and the alterations in mitochondrial function and structure are discussed.

1970 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Aldridge ◽  
B. W. Street

1. The binding of trimethyltin and triethyltin to rat liver mitochondria was determined and the results were analysed by the method of Scatchard (1949). 2. One binding site (site 1) has the correct characteristics for the site to which trimethyltin and triethyltin are attached when they inhibit oxidative phosphorylation. For each compound the concentration of site 1 is 0.8nmol/mg of protein and the ratios of their affinity constants are the same as the ratio of the concentrations inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation. 3. Binding site 1 is present in a fraction derived from mitochondria containing only 15% of the original protein. In this preparation ultrasonication rapidly destroyed site 1. 4. Dimethyltin and diethyltin do not prevent binding of triethyltin to rat liver mitochondria, whereas triethyl-lead does. 5. Trimethyltin and triethyltin bind to mitochondria from brown adipose tissue and the results indicate a binding site 1 similar to that in rat liver mitochondria. 6. The advantages and limitations of this approach to the study of inhibitors are discussed.


1990 ◽  
Vol 268 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M Davidson ◽  
A P Halestrap

1. The effects of cyclosporin A on the increase in matrix PPi and consequent swelling of energized liver mitochondria incubated with 1 mM-butyrate, 30 microM-bongkrekic acid or 0.1-35 microM-Ca2+ [Halestrap (1989) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 973, 355-382] were studied. 2. Cyclosporin (1 microM) had no significant effect on the swelling induced by butyrate, bongkrekic acid or Ca2+ at concentrations of less than 0.3 microM. 3. At higher [Ca2+] (greater than 0.3 microM), swelling became progressively inhibited by cyclosporin, although the increase in matrix PPi was slightly greater in the presence than in the absence of cyclosporin. 4. Titration with cyclosporin indicated that there are 128 pmol of relevant cyclosporin-binding sites per mg of mitochondrial protein, with a Ki of about 5 nM. 5. The decrease in light-scattering by hepatocytes induced by butyrate [Davidson & Halestrap (1988) Biochem. J. 254, 379-384] was unaffected by cyclosporin, whereas that induced by vasopressin was inhibited by 20-30% without a significant change in cellular PPi content. 6. It is suggested that there are two mechanisms for the increase in mitochondrial volume induced by Ca2+: a PPi-mediated mechanism that is insensitive to cyclosporin and an additional Ca2(+)-mediated effect that is inhibited by cyclosporin. The nature of these pathways and their inter-relationship is discussed in the following paper [Halestrap & Davidson (1990) Biochem. J. 268, 153-160].


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