Fractionation of human liver mitochondria: enzymic and morphological characterization of the inner and outer membranes as compared to rat liver mitochondria.

The fractionation of human liver mitochondria into inner membrane, outer membrane and matrix material is reported. Compared with rat, human liver mitochondria are more fragile. Fractionation can be achieved in only 2 steps, a digitonin treatment for removal of the outer membrane and centrifugation of the inner membrane plus matrix particles through a linear sucrose gradient resulting in purified inner membranes and matrix.