Natural distribution and occurrence of coenzyme Q homologues.
The knowledge of coenzyme Q levels in tissues, organs, and subcellular compartments is of outstanding interest. A wide amount of data regarding coenzyme Q distribution and occurrence was collected in the last decades; nevertheless the data are often hard to compare because of the different extraction methods and different analytical techniques used. We have undertaken a systematic study for detecting the ubiquinone content in subcellular compartments, cells, and whole-tissue homogenates by a previously standardized HPLC method performed after an extraction procedure identical for all samples. It was confirmed that the major coenzyme Q homologue in rat tissues is coenzyme Q9; however, it was pointed out that all the rodents samples tested contain more than one coenzyme Q homologue. The coenzyme Q homologue distribution is tissue dependent with relatively high coenzyme Q10 content in brain mitochondria, irrespective of the rat strain used. There is no constant relationship of the coenzyme Q content in mitochondria and microsomes fractions. Most organisms tested (including other mammals, bird and fish specimens) have only coenzyme Q10, while the protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis contains only coenzyme Q8.
Battino
M
M
Istituto di Biochimica, Università di Ancona, Italy.
Ferri
E
E
Gorini
A
A
Villa
R F
RF
Rodriguez Huertas
J F
JF
Fiorella
P
P
Genova
M L
ML
Lenaz
G
G
Marchetti
M
M
D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000032:analysis*
D014451:Ubiquinone