Electrostatic screening stimulates rate-limiting steps in mitochondrial electron transport.

The effect of electrostatic screening of fixed negative charges on uncoupled mitochondrial electron transport was investigated with substrates with different charge and different sites of donation of electrons to the electron-transport chain of Jerusalem-artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) mitochondria. Duroquinol (neutral substrate) was oxidized with a pH optimum of 7.6-7.8. The addition of cations caused a doubling of Vmax. (order of efficiency C3+ greater than C2+ greater than C+) through electrostatic screening, whereas the Km was unaffected. Screening stimulated (by 150%) the Vmax. for the oxidation of reduced cytochrome c (positive substrate; to O2), but in this case the Km doubled. The Vmax. of the oxidation of exogenous NADH (negative substrate) was also stimulated by screening when the acceptor was O2, but unaffected when duroquinone was the acceptor. In both cases, the Km for NADH was considerably decreased. The effect of screening on the Km for the different substrates can be explained by the changes in the effective concentration of substrate near the active site due to the lowering in the size of the surface potential. The effect of screening on the Vmax. of the different partial processes indicates that increasing the salt concentration of the medium enhances the maximal activity of cytochrome c oxidase. However, the results also point at the existence of other rate-limiting steps, which are affected by screening and may involve ubiquinone, in electron transport in plant mitochondria.