Transport of cyanide into guinea pig cardiac mitochondria

The transport of cyanide (CN) into cells has been presumed to be by passive diffusion. Recently, there have been reports that CN, in the form of an anion, may enter the cell by active or facilitated transport. To characterize the mechanism(s) and kinetics of CN movement across the cell membrane, we measured the rate of 14CN (Na salt) uptake into guinea-pig mitochondria. Initial velocities of CN movement into mitochondria were determined at time points ranging from 10-100 msec and at CN concentrations ranging from 1 microM-10 mM using a rapid filtration device. A Hofstee plot of the data suggests that an active or facilitated transport predominates at lower CN concentrations (less than 10 microM), whereas passive diffusion of CN predominates at higher CN concentrations. The kinetic constants for the active phase transport were Jmax = 0.9 pmol/ms and Kt = 14 microM. These results suggest that a large portion of CN movement across the cell membrane is due to an active or facilitated transport phenomenon.