title: Studies of 8-azido-ATP adducts reveal two mechanisms by which ATP binding to cytochrome c could inhibit respiration.
abstract: We have proposed that the binding of ATP at a site of substantial affinity and specificity could regulate the activity of cytochrome c with its physiological partners and thus the overall efficiency of mitochondrial electron transport. We now describe the use of ATP affinity-labeled protein to test the effect of occupancy of that site, which includes the invariant arginine 91, on the activity of cytochrome c with purified cytochrome c reductase and oxidase and its association with the mitochondrial inner membrane. Electron-transfer activities with the reductase and oxidase were inhibited by site occupancy to 41% and 11-15% of native values, respectively. The marked difference in the degree of inhibition of activity that distinguishes the reactions with the two major physiological partners was sufficient to cause, in whole mitochondria, a demonstrable shift from a situation in which there is a rate-limiting transfer from the reductase to cytochrome c, to a state where rates are more evenly matched for transfers between cytochrome c and the two redox partners. Site occupancy also substantially reduces the ionic strength necessary for half-maximal dissociation of cytochrome c from the membrane. These data imply that the decreased efficiency of electron transfer caused by ATP attachment can be attributed to a decrease in the protein's activity with individual physiological partners, possibly compounded with a decrease in its affinity for the inner mitochondrial membrane, and suggest that feedback regulation by ATP of cellular respiration operates in like manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001386:Azides / Q000737:chemistry*; D001665:Binding Sites; D003574:Cytochrome c Group / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004579:Electron Transport; D005246:Feedback; D006736:Horses; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D001386:Azides; D003574:Cytochrome c Group; C017040:8-azidoadenosine 5'-triphosphate; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate