title: Novel mitochondrial creatine transport activity. Implications for intracellular creatine compartments and bioenergetics.
abstract: Immunoblotting of isolated mitochondria from rat heart, liver, kidney, and brain with antibodies made against N- and C-terminal peptide sequences of the creatine transporter, together with in situ immunofluorescence staining and immunogold electron microscopy of adult rat myocardium, revealed two highly related polypeptides with molecular masses of approximately 70 and approximately 55 kDa in mitochondria. These polypeptides were localized by immunoblotting of inner and outer mitochondrial membrane fractions, as well as by immunogold labeling in the mitochondrial inner membrane. In addition, a novel creatine uptake via a mitochondrial creatine transport activity was demonstrated by [(14)C]creatine uptake studies with isolated mitochondria from rat liver, heart, and kidney showing a saturable low affinity creatine transporter, which was largely inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by the sulfhydryl-modifying reagent NEM, as well as by the addition of the above anti-creatine transporter antibodies to partially permeabilized mitochondria. Mitochondrial creatine transport was to a significant part dependent on the energetic state of mitochondria and was inhibited by arginine, and to some extent also by lysine, but not by other creatine analogues and related compounds. The existence of an active creatine uptake mechanism in mitochondria indicates that not only creatine kinase isoenzymes, but also creatine transporters and thus a certain proportion of the creatine kinase substrates, might be subcellularly compartmentalized. Our data suggest that mitochondria, shown here to possess creatine transport activity, may harbor such a creatine/phosphocreatine pool.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Zürich, Institute of Cell Biology, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walzel
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Speer
authors.forename: Else
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zanolla
authors.forename: Ove
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bernardi
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wallimann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002458:Cell Fractionation; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017136:Ion Transport; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D008929:Mitochondria, Heart / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D013367:Submitochondrial Particles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; C080679:creatine transporter; D003401:Creatine