[Intermembrane electron transport in the dynamics of high-amplitude swelling of rat liver mitochondria]. / Mezhmembrannyi perenos élektronov v dinamike vysokoamplitudnogo nabukhaniia mitokhondrii pecheni krys.

The rate of rotenone insensitive NADH oxidation depending on the extent of rat liver mitochondria swelling in isotonic sucrose medium has been studied. The rate of exogenous NADH oxidation was determined fluorimetrically in the presence of 4 microM cytochrome c in the medium after the inhibition of high-amplitude swelling at its different stages by means of rotenone +Mg2+ + trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrasonecarbonylcyanide (FCCP) addition. Activation of external pathway of NADH oxidation in phosphate containing medium was conditioned by quick energy and phosphate-dependent mitochondria swelling that leads to the outer membrane disruption. An increase in the rate of NADH oxidation as a result of the outer membrane disruption during high amplitude swelling in isotonic sucrose medium has been shown to be nearly proportional to the extent of the decrease in optical density of mitochondria suspension. Similar decrease in optical density of homogenates incubated 25-30 min in isotonic sucrose medium was also accompanied by a significant increase in Mg(2+)-cytochrome c-dependent rotenone insensitive NADH oxidation. A decrease in optical density of liver homogenates was prevented by EGTA+2+, rotenone+Mg2++FCCP, rotenone or FCCP alone and was nearly completely inhibited at any stages of changes by means of rotenone+Mg2++FCCP addition that usually inhibit mitochondrial swelling. That means that the rate of Mg(2+)-cytochrome-c-dependent rotenone insensitive NADH oxidation in homogenates may be used as the simple method to evaluate the outer mitochondrial membrane disruption with the purpose to analyse the liver bioptate to study the effect of hormonal, xenobiotic and physical factors on mitochondrial macrostructure.

Hypotonic fragility of outer membrane and activation of external pathway of NADH oxidation in rat liver mitochondria are increased with age.

Great importance is attached to structural and functional deterioration of mitochondria as a reason for ageing of an organism; the attention of many scientists has been concentrated on such questions as age changes in the system of oxidative phosphorylation, damage of mitochondrial DNA by free radicals generated in the respiratory chain and inclusion of some fragments of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome. Mitochondrial high amplitude swelling in a cell under some extreme conditions can possibly play a very important role in mechanisms of deterioration of energy transformation function, in activation of lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial DNA damage as a result of outer membrane disruption and release of enzymes from the intermembrane space (e.g. superoxide dismutase amd adenylate kinase). In this work the age changes of the hypotonic fragility of the outer membrane of rat liver mitochondria and the activation of the external, rotenone-insensitive pathway of NADH oxidation have been examined. It is shown that the obligatory condition for activation of rotenone-insensitive NADH oxidation is a break in the outer membrane and that the rate of NADH oxidation substantially increases in the presence of physiological concentrations of Mg2+ which cause a multiple increase in the affinity of the inner membrane to cytochrome c. Research on the rate of rotenone-insensitive NADH oxidation with respect to the osmotic pressure, the ionic strength of the medium, the presence of Mg2+ ions and cytochrome c in the medium has demonstrated a considerable increase in the hypotonic fragility of the outer membrane of liver mitochondria with age in male rats. In female rats the age changes were insignificant. It is supposed that the damage to the outer membrane of mitochondria in cells can serve as one of the possible explanations of both decrease in the reliability of an aged organism under extreme conditions and sex differences of life-span.