Cytochrome redox states and respiratory control in mouse and beef heart mitochondria at steady-state levels of hypoxia.

Mitochondrial control of cellular redox states is a fundamental component of cell signaling in the coordination of core energy metabolism and homeostasis during normoxia and hypoxia. We investigated the relationship between cytochrome redox states and mitochondrial oxygen consumption at steady-state levels of hypoxia in mitochondria isolated from beef and mouse heart (BHImt, MHImt), comparing two species with different cardiac dynamics and local oxygen demands. A low-noise, rapid spectrophotometric system using visible light for the measurement of cytochrome redox states was combined with high-resolution respirometry. Monophasic hyperbolic relationships were observed between oxygen consumption, JO2, and oxygen partial pressure, Po2, within the range <1.1 kPa (8.3 mmHg; 13 µM). P50j (Po2 at 0.5·Jmax) was 0.015 ± 0.0004 and 0.021 ± 0.003 kPa (0.11 and 0.16 mmHg) for BHImt and MHImt, respectively. Maximum oxygen consumption, Jmax, was measured at saturating ADP levels (OXPHOS capacity) with Complex I-linked substrate supply. Redox states of cytochromes aa3 and c were biphasic hyperbolic functions of Po2. The relationship between cytochrome oxidation state and oxygen consumption revealed a separation of distinct phases from mild to severe and deep hypoxia. When cytochrome c oxidation increased from fully reduced to 45% oxidized at 0.1 Jmax, Po2 was as low as 0.002 kPa (0.02 µM), and trace amounts of oxygen are sufficient to partially oxidize the cytochromes. At higher Po2 under severe hypoxia, respiration increases steeply, whereas redox changes are small. Under mild hypoxia, the steep slope of oxidation of cytochrome c when flux remains more stable represents a cushioning mechanism that helps to maintain respiration high at the onset of hypoxia.

Simultaneous high-resolution measurement of mitochondrial respiration and hydrogen peroxide production.

Mitochondrial respiration is associated with the formation of reactive oxygen species, primarily in the form of superoxide (O2 (•-)) and particularly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Since H2O2 plays important roles in physiology and pathology, measurement of hydrogen peroxide has received considerable attention over many years. Here we describe how the well-established Amplex Red assay can be used to detect H2O2 production in combination with the simultaneous assessment of mitochondrial bioenergetics by high-resolution respirometry. Fundamental instrumental and methodological parameters were optimized for analysis of the effects of various substrate, uncoupler, and inhibitor titrations (SUIT) on respiration versus H2O2 production. The sensitivity of the H2O2 assay was strongly influenced by compounds contained in different mitochondrial respiration media, which also exerted significant effects on chemical background fluorescence changes. Near linearity of the fluorescence signal was restricted to narrow ranges of accumulating resorufin concentrations independent of the nature of mitochondrial respiration media. Finally, we show an application example using isolated mouse brain mitochondria as an experimental model for the simultaneous measurement of mitochondrial respiration and H2O2 production in SUIT protocols.