Kinetic mechanism of the exchanges catalysed by the adenine-nucleotide carrier

Initial rates of the exchange ADPin/ADPout catalysed by the adenine-nucleotide carrier of rat-heart mitochondria have been studied under conditions where internal and external ADP may be varied. The initial rate was measured within 1 s by the carboxyatractyloside-stop method, using a rapid-mixing technique. The double-reciprocal plots v0(-1) versus [ADP]out-1 at different internal-ADP concentrations and v0(-1) versus [ADP]in-1 at different external-ADP concentrations exhibit straight-line relationships having a common point of intersection on the axis of ordinates. These results demonstrate the essential role of a ternary complex and thus exclude the ping-pong mechanism generally accepted. The kinetic equation implies a strong positive cooperativity in the binding of the two substrates. Two models are proposed: (a) the ternary complex performs the exchange and the transport of the substrates in a single step; (b) the carrier is mobile and transports the substrates one by one, the formation of a ternary complex being needed to release the first product.