Tricarboxylate translocator

The tricarboxylate translocator mediates an electroneutral exchange between citrate (or isocitrate) and malate. In this case H is involved since citrate must be converted to citrate ". This translocator also transports phosphoenolpyruvate,... 

It must be realised that the kinetic properties of the translocators may vary from species to species and even from tissue to tissue in the same species. One example is the relatively high capacity of the tricarboxylate translocator in liver compared to that in heart [1,19], which is related to the absence of extramitochondrial fatty, acid synthesis in heart. Another example is the high activity of the dicarboxylate translocator in liver compared to that in heart [19] which is related to the absence of gluconeogenesis in heart. 

Translocation systems of the inner mitochondrial membrane are listed in Table 14-5. Anion translocators are responsible for electroneutral movement of dicarboxylates, tricarboxylates, a-ketoglutarate, glutamate, pyruvate, and inorganic phosphate. Specific electrogenic translocator systems exchange ATP for ADP, and glutamate for aspartate, across the membrane. The metabolic function of the translocators is to provide appropriate substrates (e.g., pyruvate and fatty acids) for mitochondrial oxidation that is coupled to ATP synthesis from ADP and Pj. 

Fig. 1 Oxidative metabolism and energy production by mitochondria. The oxidation of pyruvate and free fatty acids (FFA) inside mitochondria produces NADH and FADH2, which transfer their electrons to the mitochondrial respiratory chain. The flow of electrons in mitochondrial complexes I, III, and IV is coupled with the extrusion of protons from the mitochondrial matrix into the intermembrane space. When energy is needed, these protons reenter the matrix through ATP synthase, to generate ATP from ADP. The adenine nucleotide translocator (ANT) then exchanges the formed ATP for cytosolic ADP. G-6-P Glucose 6-phosphate, PDH pyruvate dehydrogenase, LCFA-CoA long-chain fatty acyl-CoA, CPTI carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, TCA cycle tricarboxylic acid cycle, c cytochrome c...

Secondly, the transport inhibitor must be able to pass the cell membrane. The inability of benzene-1,2,3-tricarboxylate to inhibit gluconeogenesis from lactate in perfused pigeon liver, a tissue in which mitochondrial efflux of phosphoenolpyruvate is obligatory for glucose synthesis, is presumably due to lack of penetration through the plasma membrane [16], This observation is interesting since it shows that the ability of an inhibitor to penetrate the cell membrane may vary from tissue to tissue benzene-1,2,3-tricarboxylate does inhibit lipogenesis in hepatocytes of neonatal chicks, as discussed above. Another example is the apparent relative impermeability of the plasma membrane of isolated foetal rat hepatocytes, as compared with that from adult rats, for atractyloside, the inhibitor of the adenine nucleotide translocator [17]. 

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