The development of oxidative enzymes in rat liver mitochondria.

During early postnatal development there was an increase in the specific activity of a number of oxidative enzymes localized on the outer and inner mitochondrial membrane. The succinic oxidase complex of the inner mitochondrial membrane, whose activity in 1-day-old rats was 50% of the value in adult animals, attained the maximum on about the 10th day after birth. Activity of the choline and the proline oxidase complex, both of which are also localized in the inner mitochondrial membrane, was minimal in 1-day-old rats and went on rising after the 10th day. Rotenone-insensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase activity, which is localized on the outer mitochondrial membrane, remained stable up to the 10th day, and rose between the 10th and the 90th day. Developmental changes in monoaminooxidase activity, which is likewise localized on the outer mitochondrial membrane, followed a similar course to the choline and proline oxidase complexes. The amount of cytochromes a+alpha3 and cytochrome b in isolated mitochondria did not alter during development. The protein spectrum of the mitochondrial particles, determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate, likewise displayed no marked changes during postnatal development. The above findings show that the metabolic functions of the mitochondria mature during development and that changes in the different enzymes have their own characteristic time course.