Structure of paracrystalline arrays on outer membranes of rat-liver and rat-heart mitochondria.

Crystalline arrays are induced in outer membranes of rat-liver and rat-heart mitochondria by phosphotungstate and silicotungstate. The basic structure of the arrays has been determined by correlation averaging of electron microscopic images of side views of tubular arrays and en face views of planar arrays. The arrays consist of rows of bilobed projecting subunits and are similar (in lattice parameters and projected subunit dimensions) to periodic arrays of ion transport ATPases, e.g., arrays of Ca(2+)-ATPase induced by vanadate in sarcoplasmic reticulum. Hexokinase-labeled colloidal gold particles do not specifically decorate the arrays, suggesting that the hexokinase receptor (VDAC channel) is not a component of the arrays.