Quantitative Determination of the Regulation of Oxidative Phosphorylation by Cadmium in Potato Tuber Mitochondria

Abstract

The effects of cadmium on respiration rate, phosphorylation rate, proton leak rate, the protonmotive force and the effective P/O ratio were determined over a range of respiratory conditions and cadmium concentrations by applying top-down regulation analysis. To quantify the effects of cadmium, we determined the overall response coefficients of these variables of oxidative phosphorylation to cadmium in different respiratory states between state 4 and state 3 and at different cadmium concentrations. The overall response coefficients to cadmium showed quantitatively how cadmium stimulated substrate oxidation rate at high cadmium concentrations near state 4 but inhibited it to different extents under all other conditions, how cadmium inhibited the rate of proton leak rate at low cadmium concentrations near state 4 but stimulated it under all other conditions, and how cadmium inhibited the rate of phosphorylation and depressed the protonmotive force and the effective P/O ratio to different extents under all conditions. Cadmium is known to stimulate the proton leak and to inhibit the substrate oxidation reactions; we calculated the elasticities of these subsystems to cadmium to quantify its effects. To describe fully how the cadmium effects on different subsystems produce the overall responses of the system to cadmium, we then calculated the partial response coefficients of the system variables to cadmium acting through each subsystem. The partial response coefficients quantify the contribution of each block to the overall effect of cadmium on each variable in any condition, and sum to the overall response coefficient in each condition. Together with the elasticity analysis and the control analysis and internal regulation analysis presented in the preceding papers [Kesseler, A. & Brand, M. D. (1994) Eur. J. Biochem. 225, pp. 897-906; Kesseler, A. & Brand, M. D. (1994) Eur. J. Biochem. 225, pp. 907-922] they completely describe how cadmium exerts its effects on oxidative phosphorylation at the system level.