Interactions between mitochondria and cytoplasm in isolated hepatocytes.

Results from a wide variety of metabolic studies have provided indirect support for conclusions derived from enzymological approaches that the enzymes of the so-called soluble cytoplasm (and the mitochondrial matrix) exist within the cell and function in the form of multienzyme complexes and that metabolite channeling takes place between the enzymes of each complex. Our studies support the possibility that the enzymes of glycolysis in liver are segregated from those of gluconeogenesis. Thus, the segregation and aggregation of Krebs cycle enzymes in the mitochondrial matrix, elucidated by Paul Srere, may be an example of a general pattern of enzyme organization pertaining to all metabolic pathways.