title: Simultaneous measurement of mitochondrial respiration and ATP production in tissue homogenates and calculation of effective P/O ratios.
abstract: The use of tissue homogenate has greatly aided the study of the functioning of mitochondria. However, the amount of ATP produced per oxygen molecule consumed, that is, the effective P/O ratio, has never been measured directly in tissue homogenate. Here we combine and refine existing methods previously used in permeabilized cells and isolated mitochondria to simultaneously measure mitochondrial ATP production (JATP) and oxygen consumption (JO2) in tissue homogenate. A major improvement over existing methods is in the control of ATPases that otherwise interfere with the ATP assay: our modified technique facilitates simultaneous measurement of the rates of "uncorrected" ATP synthesis and of ATP hydrolysis, thus minimizing the amount of tissue and time needed. Finally, we develop a novel method of calculating effective P/O ratios which corrects measurements of JATP and JO2for rates of nonmitochondrial ATP hydrolysis and respiration, respectively. Measurements of JATP and JO2in liver homogenates from brown trout (Salmo trutta) were highly reproducible, although activity declined once homogenates were 2 h old. We compared mitochondrial properties from fed and food-deprived animals to demonstrate that the method can detect mitochondrial flexibility in P/O ratios in response to nutritional state. This method simplifies studies examining the mitochondrial bioenergetics of tissue homogenates, obviating the need for differential centrifugation or chemical permeabilization and avoiding the use of nonmitochondrial ATPase inhibitors. We conclude that our approach for characterizing effective P/O ratio opens up new possibilities in the study of mitochondrial function in very small samples, where the use of other methods is limited.
authors: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK salin.karine@gmail.com.
authors: Karine
authors: K
authors: Salin
authors: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors: Eugenia M
authors: EM
authors: Villasevil
authors: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors: Sonya K
authors: SK
authors: Auer
authors: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors: Graeme J
authors: GJ
authors: Anderson
authors: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors: Colin
authors: C
authors: Selman
authors: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors: Neil B
authors: NB
authors: Metcalfe
authors: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.|MTA-SE Lendület Neurobiochemistry Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Christos
authors: C
authors: Chinopoulos
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D010085:Oxidative Phosphorylation; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D012119:Respiration; D014337:Trout
chemical_list: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: ATPase; fluorescence; magnesium green; oxidative phosphorylation; oxygraph