Differential import and processing of the precursors to F1-ATPase beta-subunit and ornithine carbamyltransferase by liver, spleen, heart and kidney mitochondria.

The cytoplasmically made subunits 2 (beta) and 3 (gamma) of the H+-ATPase from mammalian mitochondria are synthesized in vitro as larger polypeptides. In contrast, pre-cytochrome c could not, on the basis of its molecular weight, be distinguished from the mature polypeptide. This was shown by programming a reticulocyte lysate with rat heart RNA and immunoprecipitating the labeled translation products with polypeptide-specific antibodies. When a translated lysate containing the precursor to the beta-subunit was incubated with isolated rat spleen mitochondria, it was converted to the mature subunit and was no longer susceptible to externally added trypsin. The conversion to the mature form occurred in the absence of protein synthesis. This post-translational maturation process of the beta-subunit was more efficient when carried out with spleen or liver mitochondria than with heart or kidney mitochondria. The converse relative efficiency was observed when the processing of the precursor to ornithine carbamyltransferase by these mitochondria was examined. These results indicate that mitochondria do not discriminate against tissue-specific mitochondrial proteins. In addition, the observed varying degrees of efficiency of mitochondria from different tissues in importing and processing these two precursors suggest that the activity of precursor(s)-specific translocation-maturation systems varies between different types of mitochondria.