Glutamate-aspartate antiporter

Operation of the most widespread shuttle—the malate-aspartate shuttle is depicted in Figure 8 10. Critical to the shuttle are two antiport proteins in the inner mitochondrial membrane, a malate/a-ketoglutarate antiporter and a glutamate/aspartate antiporter, that permit transport of their... 

Figure 16.S illustrates the reactions and the com-partmentalization of the enzymes of the urea cycle. The first reaction in urea biosynthesis is the mitochondrial formation of carbamoyl phosphate, the substrate of the urea cycle. The reaction utilizes an ammonium (NH4 ) ion, delivered into the mitochondrion as glutamate by the action of both the glutamate-aspartate (Section 11.3) and the glutamate-hydroxyl ion antiport carriers. Oxidative deamination of glutamate by glutamate dehydrogenase releases an NH4 ion.

In the malate shuttle (left)—which operates in the heart, liver, and kidneys, for example-oxaloacetic acid is reduced to malate by malate dehydrogenase (MDH, [2a]) with the help of NADH+HT In antiport for 2-oxogluta-rate, malate is transferred to the matrix, where the mitochondrial isoenzyme for MDH [2b] regenerates oxaloacetic acid and NADH+HT The latter is reoxidized by complex I of the respiratory chain, while oxaloacetic acid, for which a transporter is not available in the inner membrane, is first transaminated to aspartate by aspartate aminotransferase (AST, [3a]). Aspartate leaves the matrix again, and in the cytoplasm once again supplies oxalo-acetate for step [2a] and glutamate for return transport into the matrix [3b]. On balance, only NADH+H"" is moved from the cytoplasm into the matrix ATP is not needed for this. 

The interconversion of o -ketoglutarate to glutamate involves the malate-aspartate shutde. This shuttle translocates a-ketoglutarate from mitochondria into the cytoplasm and then converts it to glutamate by the catalytic action of aspartate aminotransferase (McKenna et al., 2006). As part of the malate-aspartate shuttle, NADH is oxidized during reduction of oxaloacetate to malate. Malate diffuses across the outer mitochondrial membrane (Fig. 1.6). From the intermembrane space, the malate-a-ketoglutarate antiporter in the inner membrane transports malate into the matrix. For every malate molecule entering the matrix compartment, one molecule of... 

Citrin is an aspartate-glutamate antiporter that has a role both in the urea cycle and in the malate aspartate shuttle. It is necessary for the transport of aspartate produced in the mitochondria into the cytosol, where it is used by AS. Its role in the malate-aspartate shuttle is to transport cytosolic NADH reducing equivalents into the mitochondria, where they are used in oxidative phosphorylation. Defects in citrin cause citrullinemia type II. Patients manifest later-onset intermittent hyperammonemic encephalopathy as in HHH syndrome. 

Uncoupling results in dissipation of the respiratory chain-produced ApH+ due to increased conductance of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Thus energy released by respiration is immediately dissipated as heat without formation and hydrolysis of ATP. Non-esterified fatty acids proved to be compounds mediating the thermoregulatory uncoupling. They operate as protonophorous uncouplers with the help of special uncoupling proteins (UCPs) or some mitochondrial antiporters i.e. the ATP/ADP antiporter and aspartate/glutamate antiporter [1-5]. 

---