8 research outputs found
Mitochondria isolated in nearly isotonic KCl buffer: focus on cardiolipin and organelle morphology
Rat liver mitochondria were isolated in parallel in two different isolation buffers: a standard buffer
containing mannitol/sucrose and a nearly physiological KCl based solution. The two different organelle
preparations were comparatively characterized by respiratory activity, heme content, microsomal and Golgi
contamination, electron microscopy and lipid analyses. The substitution of saccharides with KCl in the
isolation buffer does not induce the formation of mitoplasts or disruption of mitochondria. Mitochondria
isolated in KCl buffer are coupled and able to maintain a stable transmembrane charge separation. A number
of biochemical and functional differences between the two organelle preparations are described; in
particular KCl mitochondria exhibit lower cardiolipin content and smaller intracristal compartments in
comparison with the standard mitochondrial preparation