Effect of 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide on proton permeability of the mitochondrial membrane

Abstract

The respiratory-chain inhibitor 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide catalyses transmembrane proton transport driven by a pH gradient in isolated rat liver mitochondria. This effect explains the apparent blockade of net proton translocation by this compound in mitochondria respiring with ferrocyanide as described by Papa, Lorusso, Guerrieri, Boffoli, Izzo & Capuano [(1977) in Bioenergetics of Membranes (Packer, Papageorgiu & Trebst, eds.), pp. 377-388, Elsevier/North-Holland, Amsterdam] and by Lorusso, Capuano, Boffoli, Stefanelli & Papa [(1979) Biochem. J. 182, 133-147].