Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1969 Jun;63(2):370–377. doi: 10.1073/pnas.63.2.370

MICROELECTRODE STUDIES ON THE MEMBRANE PROPERTIES OF ISOLATED MITOCHONDRIA*

Joseph T Tupper 1,†, Henry Tedeschi 1
PMCID: PMC223574  PMID: 5257128

Abstract

The membrane potentials and resistances of isolated Drosophila mitochondria were measured after impalement with piezoelectric-driven microelectrodes. The potential is approximately +10 mv (positive inside), and the membrane resistance is approximately 2Ω·cm2 under state 4 conditions. Experiments involving changes in external osmolality at constant ionic strength have suggested that the measured potential is across the mitochondrial semipermeable membrane. The mitochondria generally collapse seconds after impalement. In cases of successive impalements, potential and resistance values show slight decreases from the initial impalements.

Full text

PDF
370

Images in this article

372Image
on p.372
373Image
on p.373

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ADRIAN R. H. The effect of internal and external potassium concentration on the membrane potential of frog muscle. J Physiol. 1956 Sep 27;133(3):631–658. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1956.sp005615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CHRISTIE G. S., AHMED K., MCLEAN A. E., JUDAH D. ACTIVE TRANSPORT OF POTASSIUM BY MITOCHONDRIA. I. EXCHANGE OF K+ AND H+. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1965 Mar 29;94:432–440. doi: 10.1016/0926-6585(65)90051-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chance B., Lee C. P., Mela L. Control and conservation of energy in the cytochrome chain. Fed Proc. 1967 Sep;26(5):1341–1354. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chappell J. B. Systems used for the transport of substrates into mitochondria. Br Med Bull. 1968 May;24(2):150–157. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070618. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cockrell R. S., Harris E. J., Pressman B. C. Energetics of potassium transport in mitochondria induced by valinomycin. Biochemistry. 1966 Jul;5(7):2326–2335. doi: 10.1021/bi00871a022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. FRASCA J. M., PARKS V. R. A ROUTINE TECHNIQUE FOR DOUBLE-STAINING ULTRATHIN SECTIONS USING URANYL AND LEAD SALTS. J Cell Biol. 1965 Apr;25:157–161. doi: 10.1083/jcb.25.1.157. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. HILD W., TASAKI I. Morphological and physiological properties of neurons and glial cells in tissue culture. J Neurophysiol. 1962 Mar;25:277–304. doi: 10.1152/jn.1962.25.2.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Harris E. J., Pressman B. C. The direction of polarity of the mitochondrial trans-membrane potential. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1969 Jan 14;172(1):66–70. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(69)90092-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kaneko A., Hashimoto H. Localization of spike-producing cells in the frog retina. Vision Res. 1968 Mar;8(3):259–262. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(68)90013-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lassen U. V., Sten-Knudsen O. Direct measurements of membrane potential and membrane resistance of human red cells. J Physiol. 1968 Apr;195(3):681–696. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1968.sp008482. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Loewenstein W. R., Kanno Y., Ito S. Permeability of nuclear membranes. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1966 Jul 14;137(2):708–716. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1966.tb50192.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mitchell P. Proton-translocation phosphorylation in mitochondria, chloroplasts and bacteria: natural fuel cells and solar cells. Fed Proc. 1967 Sep;26(5):1370–1379. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. PAULY H., PACKER L. The relationship of internal conductance and membrane capacity to mitochondrial volume. J Biophys Biochem Cytol. 1960 Jul;7:603–612. doi: 10.1083/jcb.7.4.603. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. RIKMENSPOEL R. THE INHIBITION BY AMYTAL OF RESPIRATION AND MOTILITY OF BULL SPERMATOZOA. Exp Cell Res. 1965 Feb;37:312–326. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(65)90180-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schanne O., Coraboeuf E. Potential and resistance measurements of rat liver cells in situ. Nature. 1966 Jun 25;210(5043):1390–1391. doi: 10.1038/2101390a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Slater E. C. An evaluation of the Mitchell hypothesis of chemiosmotic coupling in oxidative and photosynthetic phosphorylation. Eur J Biochem. 1967 May;1(3):317–326. doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-25813-2_43. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. TEDESCHI H. The structure of the mitochondrial membrane: inferences from permeability properties. J Biophys Biochem Cytol. 1959 Oct;6:241–252. doi: 10.1083/jcb.6.2.241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES