Efficiency of proton extrusion by chemically modified mitochondria.

Bovine heart mitochondria were treated with limited amounts of iodoacetamide, 1-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline, phenylglyoxal, tetranitromethane and 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, respectively. Examination of the respiration and proton extrusion characteristics of the chemically modified mitochondria suggests that sulfhydryl and imidazole groups are not directly involved in proton pumping, but that some of the labeled carboxyl, amino, guanidinium and phenolic groups may participate in an indirect proton-extrusion process. Cross-linking mitochondria with glutaraldehyde drastically decreases the efficiency of proton extrusion, whereas treatment of mitochondria with valeraldehyde under similar conditions did not affect the proton-pumping efficiency significantly. The latter observations show that conformational change in the inner mitochondrial membrane may play a crucial role in the active translocation of protons coupled to electron transport. Comparison of the reactivities of the essential amino and carboxyl groups in mitochondria in different oxidation states suggests that these two types of essential functional groups are more exposed to water in the oxidized state. An indirect mechanism for proton pumping based on protein conformational change driven by electron transport based on the results of the present chemical modification studies is suggested.