Transmigration of mitochondrial GOT in cholestatic liver injury

Cholestatic liver injury was experimentally induced in rats by administration of alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT) and the peak activity of mitochondrial L-aspartate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase (m-GOT) released in the serum was found to precede the peak of total GOT activity. To investigate the permeability of the mitochondrial inner membrane to m-GOT, liver mitochondria obtained from rats given ANIT were fractionated into two subfractions: one containing the matrix and the inner and outer membranes, and the other containing the intermembrane space, and the m-GOT in these fractions was determined. As a result, 12 hours after ANIT administration, the relative activity of GOT in the subfraction containing the matrix and the membranes was significantly lower than the control value. In the same period, the ratio of GOT activity to the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase, which is a marker enzyme for the matrix, and the ratio of GOT activity to the activity of cytochrome c oxidase, which is a marker enzyme for the inner membrane, were both decreased by half. In contrast, the relative GOT activity for the subfraction containing the intermembrane space was significantly increased 12 hours after administration. Also, the ratio of GOT activity to the activity of adenylate kinase, a marker enzyme for the intermembrane space, was doubled. These results suggest that m-GOT, which is originally located in the mitochondrial matrix, transmigrated to the intermembrane space via the inner membrane under the effect of ANIT administration.