[Measurement of rat myocardial mitochondria permeability transition with spectrophotometer].

ABSTRACT

AIM: Mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) is an important index to indicate the integrity and function of mitochondria. The principle of measurement for MPT is to observe the change of absorbance at 540 nm, due to the swelling of mitochondria by the disturbance of permeability transition of mitochondrial membrane when MPT increase. Consulting the literature and according to the reality in our laboratory, we established a spectrophotometric method for measuring myocardial MPT by using UV-240 spectrophotometer. METHODS: The decrease of absorbance and the time to equilibrium deltaA/min indicates the change of MPT. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results showed that the optimal pH, concentration of protein and temperature for measuring MPT in our laboratory are pH 7.4, 0.5 mg protein/ml of mitochondria and 25 degrees C respectively.