The regulation of the proton conductance of brown fat mitochondria. Identification of functional and non-functional nucleotide-binding sites.

The binding of purine nucleotides to intact brown fat mitochondria is re-examined. In addition to the previously reported high affinity binding site, a low-affinity site is found, which requires several minutes to saturate. Only the high affinity site is functional in regulating the proton and halide permeabilities of the mitochondria. The low affinity site can introduce errors in the use of nucleotide binding to quantitate the Mr 32000 uncoupling protein unique to these mitochondria.