Novel difference in IF1 reactivity to Zn2+ in rabbit versus rat cardiomyocytes, mitochondria, and submitochondrial particles.

Zn2+ has a paradoxical effect on IF1-ATPase interaction in cardiac muscle mitochondria in so-called slow heart-rate mammalian species like rabbit. In such slow heart-rate mammalian species, it completely prevents IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition regardless of pH while concomitantly causing full IF1 binding to the ATPase, again, regardless of pH (Rouslin et al. (1993) J. Bioenerget. Biomembr. 25, 297-306). While our earlier study suggested that there are two kinds of IF1-ATPase interaction, a docking interaction and an ATPase inhibitory interaction with Zn2+ promoting docking and interfering with inhibition, it did not yield information on whether Zn2+ interacted primarily with IF1, with the ATPase, or with both. In the present study we show that, in contrast to its effects in rabbit cardiomyocytes, mitochondria, and SMP in which Zn2+ fully blocked IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition, Zn2+ actually enhanced ATPase inhibition in rat cardiomyocytes, although the extent of this effect was limited by the low level of IF1 in rat cardiomyocytes. Moreover, Zn2+ had no effect on IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition in rat heart mitochondria and, as suggested by inter and intra-species IF1 binding to SMP, the different effects of Zn2+ in rabbit versus those in rat appear to be mediated primarily through the different reactivities of rabbit and rat IF1 to Zn2+.

IF1 function in situ in uncoupler-challenged ischemic rabbit, rat, and pigeon hearts.

Rabbit, rat, and pigeon are species representative of three cardiac muscle mitochondrial ATPase regulatory classes, a, b and c, respectively. Class a species contain a full complement of higher affinity ATPase inhibitor subunit, IF1, in their cardiac muscle mitochondria and show marked IF1-mediated mitochondrial ATPase inhibition during myocardial ischemia. Class b species contain low levels of higher affinity IF1 and show very little IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition during ischemia. Class c species contain a full complement of a lower affinity form of IF1 and show a low-to-moderate level of IF1- mediated ATPase inhibition during ischemia. In the present study we perfused hearts of a member of each regulatory class through the coronary arteries with the uncoupler, carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP), before making them ischemic. We then compared net rates of cell ATP depletion during ischemia in the FCCP-treated hearts to identically treated FCCP-free hearts. Thus, we tested the relative capacities of cardiac muscle mitochondria of the three species to avert a potentially greatly increased net rate of cell ATP depletion due to ATP hydrolysis by the fully uncoupled mitochondrial ATPase. We found that FCCP-uncoupling in situ had a relatively small effect on ATP depletion during ischemia in rabbit hearts, that it dramatically accelerated ATP depletion in ischemic rat hearts, and that it had an intermediate effect on ATP depletion in ischemic pigeon hearts. These results demonstrate for the first time the relative extents to which IF1-mediated mitochondrial ATPase inhibition can slow cell ATP depletion due to the fully uncoupled mitochondrial ATPase in these three classes of hearts. They show that, in contrast to the situation in rabbit hearts, the low level of higher affinity IF1 present in the cardiac muscle mitochondria of the rat is, under these conditions, essentially nonfunctional, while the full complement of the lower affinity form of IF1 present in the cardiac muscle mitochondria of the pigeon is partially functional in that it appeared to provide an intermediate level of protection against rapid cell ATP depletion.

Isoform-independent heart rate-related variation in cardiac myofibrillar Ca(2+)-activated Mg(2+)-ATPase activity.

In the present study, we compared the activities of the cardiac myofibrillar Ca(2+)-activated Mg(2+)-ATPase and the content of cardiac muscle mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor protein (IF1) of several mammalian species covering broad ranges of body mass and heart rate, i.e., from beef cattle to mouse. The cardiac myofibrillar ATPase from each species was assayed over a range of pCa values at pH 7.4. While the cardiac myofibrillar ATPase from all species examined showed essentially identical Ca2+ concentration dependencies with the ATPase in each species activating steeply between pCa 6.5 and 5.5, the maximal ATPase specific activity reached varied considerably from species to species, and this variation was largely independent of the predominant cardiac myosin ATPase isoform present. Thus, while adult beef cattle, pig, dog, and rabbit all contain predominantly the slow cardiac myosin ATPase isoform the cardiac myofibrillar ATPase specific activities of these four species varied over approximately a fourfold range. Moreover, there was a fairly smooth curvilinear relationship between maximum Ca(2+)-activated myofibrillar ATPase activity and median conscious heart rate for the slow cardiac myosin ATPase-possessing species examined. This smooth continuum also extended to include two species possessing the fast cardiac myosin ATPase isoform, rat and mouse. This relationship between myofibrillar ATPase activity and heart rate that appears to be applicable to a broad range of species suggests that the myofibrillar ATPase is specifically modeled or fine-tuned to the kinetic (heart rate) demand of each species and, within slow and fast heart rate ranges, is essentially independent of myosin ATPase isoform per se. Only hearts containing predominantly the slow myosin ATPase isoform contained functional levels of IF1. Finally, while it has been reported that the ratio of myosin Ca(2+)-ATPase to actomyosin Mg(2+)-ATPase activity is a good index of the percent of the fast myosin ATPase in rabbit myofibrillar preparations, we found that this relationship may be applicable to only some species.

ATPase activity, IF1 content, and proton conductivity of ESMP from control and ischemic slow and fast heart-rate hearts.

Earlier studies by Rouslin and coworkers showed that, during myocardial ischemia in slow heart-rate species which include rabbits and all larger mammals examined including humans, there is an IF1-mediated inhibition of the mitochondrial ATPase due to an increase in the amount of IF1 bound to the ATPase (Rouslin, W., and Pullman, M.E., J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 19,661-668, 1987). Earlier work by Guerrieri and colleagues demonstrated that IF1 binding to bovine heart ESMP was accompanied by parallel decreases in ATPase activity and in passive proton conduction (Guerrieri, F., et al., FEBS Lett. 213, 67-72, 1987). In the present study rabbit was used as the slow heart-rate species and rat as the fast heart-rate species. Rat is a fast heart-rate species that contains too little IF1 to down regulate the ATPase activity present. Mitochondria were prepared from control and ischemic hearts and ESMP were made from aliquots by sonication at pH 8.0 with 2 mM EDTA. Oligomycin-sensitive ATPase activity and IF1 content were measured in SMP prepared from the control and ischemic mitochondrial samples. After identical incubation procedures, oligomycin-sensitive ATPase activity, oligomycin-sensitive proton conductivity, and IF1 content were also measured in ESMP samples. The study was undertaken to corroborate further what appear to be fundamental differences in ATPase regulation between slow and fast heart-rate mammalian hearts evident during total myocardial ischemia. Thus, passive proton conductivity was used as an independent measure of these regulatory differences. The results show that, consistent with the low IF1 content of rat heart cardiac muscle mitochondria, control rat heart ESMP exhibit approximately twice as much passive proton conductivity as control rabbit heart ESMP regardless of the pH of the incubation and assay. Moreover, while total ischemia caused an increase in IF1 binding and a commensurate decrease in passive proton conductivity in rabbit heart ESMP regardless of pH, neither IF1 content nor proton conductivity changed significantly in rat heart ESMP as a result of ischemia.

Content and binding characteristics of the mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor, IF1, in the tissues of several slow and fast heart-rate homeothermic species and in two poikilotherms.

We determined the IF1 contents of pig, rabbit, rat, mouse, guinea pig, pigeon, turtle, and frog heart mitochondria and the effects of varying ionic strength upon the IF1-mediated inhibition of the ATPase activity of IF1-depleted rabbit heart mitochondrial particles (RHMP) by IF1-containing extracts from these same eight species. The IF1 binding experiments were run at both species-endogenous IF1 levels and at an IF1 level normalized to that present in rabbit heart mitochondria. When species-endogenous levels of rabbit heart IF1 or either species-endogenous or normalized levels of pig heart IF1 were incubated with RHMP over a range of KCl concentrations, increasing the [KCl] to 150 mM had relatively little effect on IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition. When either species-endogenous or normalized levels of guinea pig, pigeon, turtle, or frog heart IF1 were incubated with RHMP under the same conditions, increasing [KCl] to 150 mM nearly completely blocked IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition. While species-endogenous levels of rat and mouse heart IF1 inhibited the ATPase activity of RHMP virtually not at all at any [KCl] examined, normalized levels of rat and mouse IF1 inhibited the ATPase activity of RHMP to the same extents as species-endogenous levels of pig and rabbit heart IF1, respectively, in the presence of increasing [KCl]. These experiments suggest that, while pig and rabbit heart mitochondria contain a full complement of higher-affinity IF1, pigeon, guinea pig, turtle, and frog heart mitochondria cell contain essentially a full complement of a lower-affinity form of IF1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Analysis of factors affecting functional assays for estimating IF1, the mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor.

Functional assays for IF1 have been in use for more than 30 years, i.e., since the initial report of Pullman and Monroy in 1963 on the inhibition of soluble F1-ATPase by the purified bovine heart inhibitor. However, beginning with the report of Horstman and Racker in 1970 and for approximately 17 years thereafter, workers in many laboratories routinely used IF1-depleted bovine heart submitochondrial particles (SMP) prepared from slaughterhouse material for the assay of IF1-containing extracts and preparations. Then, in 1987 we introduced the use of submitochondrial particles prepared from a species naturally poor in IF1 for this purpose. Thus, rat heart SMP which are largely depleted of IF1 in their native state were found to allow the performance of particularly linear and reproducible IF1 titration assays regardless of the species source of the IF1 titrated on them. The present study presents the first systematic comparison of the effects of a variety of factors upon functional assays for IF1. These include variations in IF1 functional assays due to seasonal effects on bovine A particles as well as to the species source of the IF1-depleted particles used in the assays. Interestingly, bovine heart A particles prepared during cold weather were considerably more active than those prepared during warmer weather. Moreover, the more active cold-weather particles allowed the performance of better IF1 assays. Also, the larger the species of origin of the IF1-depleted heart muscle SMP, the less IF1 was required to produce a given amount of ATPase inhibition regardless of both seasonal effects and the species source of the IF1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Factors affecting the species-homologous and species-heterologous binding of mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor, IF1, to the mitochondrial ATPase of slow and fast heart-rate hearts.

We examined the effects of a variety of conditions upon the IF1-mediated inhibition of the ATPase in both intact and sonicated mitochondria and in IF1-depleted submitochondrial particles (SMP) in species-homologous and species-heterologous combinations of IF1 and ATPase. IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition occurred in intact rabbit heart mitochondria at low matrix pH and low membrane potential, but not in intact pigeon and rat heart mitochondria under the same conditions. IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition was, however, demonstrable in both the rabbit and pigeon heart systems in sonicated mitochondria incubated at low ionic strength. The rat heart system failed to exhibit significant IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition in either intact or sonicated mitochondria due to the low amount of IF1 present. When rabbit heart IF1-containing extracts were incubated with IF1-depleted rabbit heart SMP over a range of KCl concentrations, increasing the [KCl] to 100 mM had little effect on IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition. When pigeon heart IF1-containing extracts were incubated with IF1-depleted pigeon heart SMP under the same conditions, increasing [KCl] to 100 mM nearly completely blocked IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition. While the species-endogenous level of rat heart IF1 (i.e., 1x IF1) inhibited IF1-depleted rat heart SMP virtually not at all at any [KCl] examined, the 8x rat heart IF1 was nearly as inhibitory as the 1x rabbit heart IF1 at varying ionic strengths. When rabbit, pigeon, or rat heart IF1 was bound to rabbit versus pigeon IF1-depleted SMP, the effect of varying ionic strength on IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition was related to the species source of the IF1, not to the species source of the enzyme; 1x bovine heart IF1 purified to homogeneity behaved much like 1x crude rabbit heart IF1 when binding to either the rabbit or the pigeon heart enzyme. This suggests that an IF1-ATPase complex stabilizing factor such as has been isolated from baker's yeast cells in neither lacking in the pigeon heart system nor required for the more ionic-strength-resistant binding of IF1 observed in slow heart-rate mammalian heart mitochondria.

Effects of Zn2+ on the activity and binding of the mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor protein, IF1.

Zn2+ caused a noninhibitory binding of IF1 to mitochondrial membranes in both rabbit heart SMP and intact rabbit heart mitochondria. This Zn(2+)-induced IF1 binding required the presence of at least trace amounts of MgATP and was essentially independent of pH between 6.2 and 8.2. Addition of Zn2+ after the formation of fully inhibited IF1-ATPase complexes very slowly reversed IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition without causing significant IF1 release from the membranes. When Zn2+ was added during the state 4 energization of ischemic mitochondria in which IF1 was already functionally bound, it slowed somewhat energy-driven ATPase activation. This slowing was probably due to the fairly large depressing effect Zn2+ had upon membrane potential development, but Zn2+ did not decrease the degree of ATPase activation eventually reached at 20 min of state 4 incubation. Zn2+ also preempted normal IF1 release from the membranes, causing what little inhibitor that was released to rebind to the enzyme in noninhibitory IF1-ATPase complexes. The data suggest that IF1 can interact with the ATPase in two ways of through two kinds of sites: (a) a noninhibitory interaction involving a non-inhibitory IF1 conformation and/or an IF1 docking site on the enzyme and (b) an inhibitory interaction involving an inhibitory IF1 conformation and/or a distinct ATPase activity regulatory site. Zn2+ appears to have the dual effect of stabilizing the noninhibitory IF1-ATPase interaction and possibly a noninhibitory IF1 conformation while concomitantly preventing the formation of an inhibitory IF1-ATPase interaction and possibly an inhibitory IF1 conformation, regardless of pH. While the data do not rule out direct effects of Zn2+ on either free IF1 or the free enzyme, they suggest that Zn2+ cannot interact readily with either the inhibitor or the enzyme once functional IF1-ATPase complexes are formed.

Mechanisms of ATP conservation during ischemia in slow and fast heart rate hearts.

In the present study we compared the quantitatively most important, Pi-activated mechanisms for conserving ATP during ischemia in dog and rat cardiac muscle. Earlier studies by ourselves showed that dog heart, like all slow heart rate mammalian hearts examined, possesses the ability to inhibit its mitochondrial ATPase by binding IF1, the ATPase inhibitor protein, during ischemia. Rat heart, like other fast heart rate mammalian hearts studied, does not. The present study demonstrated that this IF1-mediated ATPase inhibition in ischemic dog heart, as in other slow heart rate hearts, appears to depend on matrix space acidification mediated largely by Pi-H+ symport via the mitochondrial Pi carrier. The present study further confirmed that maximal glycolytic flux rates are five- to sixfold greater in ischemic rat than in ischemic dog heart. Both of these systems are activated by increasing Pi concentration ([Pi]) during ischemia, and both appear to be regulated somewhat differently in dog than in rat heart. Thus intact dog heart mitochondria exhibited a [Pi]-dependent ATPase inhibition at low external pH, whereas rat heart mitochondria did not. The [Pi] required for maximal ATPase inhibition in dog heart mitochondria was approximately 6 mM. Although both dog and rat heart phosphofructokinase were stimulated by Pi, the enzyme in dog heart was maximally activated by approximately 6 mM Pi, whereas the rat heart enzyme required only approximately 3 mM Pi for its maximal stimulation under otherwise identical conditions. The most active nonmitochondrial ATPase in ischemic dog and rat cardiac muscle, the Ca(2+)-activated actomyosin ATPase, accounted for approximately one-half of the total nonmitochondrial ATPase activity in each species.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Regulation of the mitochondrial ATPase in situ in cardiac muscle: role of the inhibitor subunit.

The mitochondrial F1-ATPase inhibitor protein, IF1, binds to beta subunits of the F1-ATPase both in vitro and in situ under nonenergizing conditions, i.e., under conditions that allow a net hydrolysis of ATP by the mitochondrial ATPase to take place. This reversible IF1 binding occurs in a wide variety of cell types including (anaerobic) baker's yeast cells and (ischemic) mammalian cardiomyocytes under conditions that limit oxidative phosphorylation. The binding of inhibitor results in a marked slowing of ATP hydrolysis by the undriven mitochondrial ATP synthase. An apparent main function of this reversible IF1 binding, at least in cells that undergo aerobic-anaerobic switching, is the mitigation of a wasteful hydrolysis of ATP produced by glycolysis during anoxic or ischemic intervals, by the mitochondrial ATPase. While this apparent main function is probably of considerable importance in cells that normally either can or must undergo aerobic-anaerobic switching such as baker's yeast cells and skeletal myocytes, one wonders why a full complement of IF1 has been retained in certain cells that normally do not undergo such aerobic-anaerobic switching, cells such as adult mammalian cardiomyocytes of many species. While some mammalian species have, indeed, not retained a functional complement of IF1 in their cardiomyocytes, those that have can benefit significantly from its presence during intervals of myocardial ischemia.

Effects of acidosis and ATP depletion on cardiac muscle electron transfer complex I.

The loss of NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase activity, the activity of mitochondrial electron transfer complex I, underlies the loss of mitochondrial phosphorylating respiration with NAD-linked substrates observed during myocardial ischemia. In the present study the loss of complex I activity was found to be considerably more rapid during zero-flow ischemia in rat heart, a fast heart-rate heart, than in dog heart, a slow heart-rate heart. Moreover, the greater rapidity of the loss of complex I activity in the ischemic rat heart appeared to reflect the more rapid and more severe decreases in tissue pH and in tissue ATP characteristic of the zero-flow ischemic rat heart compared to zero-flow ischemic dog heart. In vitro enzyme inactivation studies on dog heart electron transfer complex I showed that the enzyme was approximately 40% inactivated after 1 minute by incubation at pH 6.0 in the absence of added ATP. The effect of low pH upon enzyme activity was mitigated considerably by the presence of one to two mM MgATP in the incubation mixtures. Moreover, a portion of the activity-sparing effect of MgATP was still observed in the presence of the uncoupler, FCCP. This latter observation suggests that part of the function-stabilizing effect of ATP was attributable to inner membrane energization and part appeared to have been due to a direct protective effect of ATP upon the complex.

ATP depletion and mitochondrial functional loss during ischemia in slow and fast heart-rate hearts.

In the present study, isolated dog and rat hearts were perfused in the Langendorff mode with Krebs bicarbonate buffer in the absence and presence of 10(-5) M oligomycin. The perfusion protocols employed allowed tissue pH to drop during subsequent ischemic incubations essentially as it would in blood-perfused hearts. Tissue pH, ATP, lactate, and mitochondrial respiratory function were measured during the course of subsequent zero-flow ischemic incubations. The adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activities attributable to both mitochondrial and nonmitochondrial ATPases in sonicated heart homogenates and the actomyosin ATPase in isolated cardiac myofibrils were measured in both species. Consistent with earlier results with a different model in which tissue pH was buffered during the ischemic incubations [W. Rouslin, J. L. Erickson, and R. J. Solaro. Am. J. Physiol. 250 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 19): H503-H508, 1986], the inhibition of the mitochondrial ATPase in situ by oligomycin markedly slowed both tissue ATP depletion and the loss of mitochondrial function during ischemia in the dog. However, oligomycin had only a very small and transient effect on ATP depletion and mitochondrial function in the rat. This was apparently so because of the fivefold higher rate of glycolytic ATP production as well as the nearly threefold higher total nonmitochondrial ATPase activity of ischemic rat compared with ischemic dog heart. These results suggest that although the inhibition of the mitochondrial ATPase makes a major contribution to ATP conservation in ischemic dog heart, it makes only a very small contribution in rat.

Regulation of the mitochondrial adenosine 5'-triphosphatase in situ during ischemia and in vitro in intact and sonicated mitochondria from slow and fast heart-rate hearts.

In the present study we examined the regulation of the cardiac muscle mitochondrial ATPase both in situ and in vitro in intact and sonicated mitochondria from rabbit, pigeon, and rat. We chose to study these three species because each is representative of one of the three classes into which all species thus far studied may be placed with respect to the in situ activity of their cardiac muscle mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor and with respect to the amount of ATPase inhibitor present in their cardiac muscle mitochondria (1). Class A species (rabbit) contain a full complement of ATPase inhibitor and show a marked ATPase inhibition during ischemia. Class B species (pigeon) also contain a full complement of inhibitor but exhibit only a low level of ATPase inhibition in situ. Class C species (rat) contain only low levels of inhibitor and, like class B species, don't appear to utilize the inhibitor they possess during ischemia in situ. We found that, while hearts from all three species developed a marked cytosolic acidosis during ischemia, only rabbit exhibited a marked ATPase inhibition in situ. In in vitro experiments in which matrix pH values close to 6.2 and delta psi values close to zero were measured in intact mitochondria from all three species, matrix pH appeared to be an important factor regulating ATPase inhibition in rabbit, but it had little effect upon ATPase--inhibitor interaction in pigeon and rat despite the lack of membrane potential. However, a pH-dependent further release of ATPase inhibitor was observed in sonicated pigeon heart mitochondria only. This latter observation suggests that, while slow heart-rate heart mitochondria appear to be designed for ATPase down regulation during ischemia by inhibitor binding to the ATPase, fast heart-rate heart mitochondria appear to be designed primarily for ATPase up regulation by a further release of inhibitor from the enzyme.

Factors affecting the reactivation of the mitochondrial adenosine 5'-triphosphatase and the release of ATPase inhibitor protein during and following the reenergization of mitochondria from ischemic cardiac muscle.

In the present study we examined three factors affecting the reversal of the ischemia-induced inhibition of the mitochondrial ATPase described by us earlier (W. Rouslin (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 9657-9661). These factors were the pH, the MgATP concentration, and the pCa of the medium in which mitochondria were sonicated following their reenergization in vitro. It was found that the extent of ATPase reactivation, on the one hand, and the extent of inhibitor protein release, on the other, following the reenergization in vitro and subsequent sonication of intact mitochondria isolated from 20-min-ischemic canine cardiac muscle were affected differently by each of the three factors studied. While raising the pH of the medium in which the mitochondria were sonicated subsequent to reenergization from approximately 7.0 to approximately 8.2 resulted in marked parallel increases in both ATPase reactivation and inhibitor protein release, lowering the pH of the medium to approximately 6.4 resulted in a marked decrease in ATPase reactivation but also in the apparent irreversible binding and/or denaturation of a portion of the ATPase inhibitor. Increasing the MgATP concentration of the sonication medium from zero to 2.0 mM resulted in approximately a one-third decrease in ATPase reactivation. The effect upon inhibitor release was more dramatic. MgATP at 2 mM decreased inhibitor release by approximately two-thirds. The pCa of the sonication medium was varied between 9.0 and 3.5 using Ca-ethylenebis(oxyethylenenitrilo)-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) buffers. Decreasing the pCa of the medium from 9.0 to 3.5 had a paradoxical effect. It resulted in increases both in ATPase reactivation and in the amount of inhibitor bound to the particles. Such a paradoxical effect may be explained if one assumes the existence of two kinds of inhibitor-enzyme interaction sites, namely, regulatory and nonregulatory binding sites. Thus, decreasing the pCa may decrease interaction at regulatory sites while enhancing interaction at nonregulatory inhibitor binding sites.

Regulation of mitochondrial matrix pH and adenosine 5'-triphosphatase activity during ischemia in slow heart-rate hearts. Role of Pi/H+ symport.

During ischemia in so-called slow heart-rate hearts, there is a marked inhibition of the mitochondrial ATPase mediated by inhibitor protein binding to the enzyme (Rouslin, W., and Pullman, M. E. (1987) J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 19, 661-668). This ischemia-induced ATPase inhibition is triggered by a drop in mitochondrial matrix pH (Rouslin, W. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 3472-3476) which occurs as a result of the cell acidification which develops rapidly during the ischemic process. One effect of the ATPase inhibition is a marked slowing of the net rate of tissue ATP hydrolysis and, thus, a prolongation of cell viability during ischemia. In the present study, we demonstrate that matrix acidification in intact mitochondria from slow heart-rate hearts appears to be mediated by the Pi transporter. Pi/H+ symport appears to be the primary process which mediates matrix acidification and thus ATPase inhibition in intact slow heart-rate heart mitochondria made acidotic in vitro and, presumably, also in mitochondria in situ during the ischemic process. In contrast, intact mitochondria from a so-called fast heart-rate species, which exhibited only a low level of ischemia-induced ATPase inhibition in situ (Rouslin, W. (1987) Am. J. Physiol. 252, H622-H627), failed to exhibit a Pi- and pH-dependent mitochondrial ATPase inhibition mechanism in vitro. The Pi-dependent mitochondrial ATPase inhibition mechanism reported here for slow heart-rate hearts is consistent with a role for Pi as a coordinating signal promoting the conservation of cell ATP during myocardial ischemia.

Factors affecting the loss of mitochondrial function during zero-flow ischemia (autolysis) in slow and fast heart-rate hearts.

The (uninhibited) mitochondrial ATPase comprises approximately 90% of the total ATP hydrolyzing activity present in quiescent, ischemic canine heart muscle and its inhibition by its natural inhibitor protein plays a pivotal role in the slowing of tissue ATP depletion during ischemia. While dog heart mitochondria contain a full complement of mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor capable of fully down-regulating the enzyme activity present in this species, rat heart mitochondria contain a much lower level of inhibitor, sufficient to inhibit the enzyme activity present in this species by only approximately 20%. Moreover, this fractional complement of inhibitor remains largely inoperative in the ischemic rat heart. As shown in the present study, one apparent result of the lack of a functional complement of mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor in the rat heart is a more rapid rate of cell ATP depletion during zero-flow ischemia. This in turn results in a more rapidly developed and initially more severe cell acidosis in the ischemic rat heart because ATP hydrolysis produces protons. Finally, and consistent with earlier studies by us, the more rapid ATP depletion together with the more severe acidosis appears to result in a marked increase in the rate of loss of mitochondrial respiratory function in the ischemic rat heart compared to the ischemic dog heart. Our findings suggest that slow heart-rate hearts which contain in situ functional mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor, possess an effective mechanism for sparing cell ATP stores during early ischemia, whereas fast heart-rate hearts which lack in situ mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor function, possess a less effective ATP sparing mechanism.

Protonic inhibition of the mitochondrial adenosine 5'-triphosphatase in ischemic cardiac muscle. Reversible binding of the ATPase inhibitor protein to the mitochondrial ATPase during ischemia.

Twenty minutes of ischemia in canine cardiac muscle produced a 50% to 60% inhibition of the mitochondrial ATPase. The inhibition has been shown to be triggered by a drop in cell pH under the non-energizing conditions which prevail in ischemic cells (Rouslin, W J Biol Chem 258, 9657-9661 (1983). In the present study we showed that the ATPase inhibition produced in situ in ischemic cardiac muscle was preserved in submitochondrial particles (SMP) prepared from mitochondria isolated from the ischemic tissue. The ischemic SMP ATPase was 45 +/- 3% as active as that of control particles. Measurements of the amounts of ATPase inhibitor protein of Pullman and Monroy present in extracts of control and ischemic SMP by two independent methods, titration of rat heart SMP ATPase and radioimmunoassay, revealed that control SMP contained 62 +/- 4% as much inhibitor as ischemic SMP as estimated by the titration procedure and 66 +/- 3% as much as estimated by the RIA. The results suggest that about one-third of the inhibitor was displaced from the control SMP. Finally, submitochondrial particles prepared from 20 min ischemic heart muscle showed a 2.5-fold increase in ATPase specific activity and a concomitant release of 35% of their inhibitor as a result of subsequent reenergization in vitro. Carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) prevented both ATPase reactivation and inhibitor release. These findings support the hypothesis that the observed in situ ATPase inhibition is inhibitor protein mediated. Moreover, they suggest a pathophysiological function for the inhibitor protein in cardiac muscle.