Molecular characterization and mitochondrial density of a recognition site for peripheral-type benzodiazepine ligands

In a previous report, mitochondria were proposed as a subcellular structure where recognition sites for peripheral benzodiazepine ligands are located in adrenal glands. The present study examines the subcellular distribution of specific binding sites for PK 11195 in eight tissues and compares the relative densities of these binding sites in mitochondrial-enriched fractions with the relative activities of two mitochondrial marker enzymes. In all eight tissues examined, PK 11195 binding sites were found to subfractionate in a manner nearly identical to that of the mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase. The subcellular distribution patterns of specific PK 11195 binding sites were unrelated to the distribution patterns of marker enzymes for plasma membranes, lysosomes, or endoplasmic reticulum. Scatchard analyses of mitochondrial fractions from all eight tissues demonstrated a greater than 100-fold difference in the densities of PK 11195 binding sites, the extremes being 140 and 1 pmol/mg of protein in adrenal and brain tissues, respectively. There was no correlation between the relative density of PK 11195 binding sites and the specific activities of succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidase. These results suggest that the density of peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors in mitochondria is tissue dependent and apparently regulated independently of the mechanisms by which these two mitochondrial enzymes are expressed or function. The photoaffinity probe PK 14105 was used to photolabel the peripheral-type benzodiazepine binding sites of mitochondrial fractions prepared from the eight tissues. In all preparations, a 17,000-Da polypeptide is specifically labeled as determined by electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Thus, it appears that the protein recognition site for isoquinoline carboxamides of peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor complexes is similar in all mitochondrial preparations.