Age-related decline in the biosynthesis of mitochondrial inner membrane proteins

Isolated mitochondria from rat livers of various ages show a gradual decline in the rate of inner membrane-matrix protein synthesis with advancing age of the animal. Rats at 112-120 weeks synthesize these proteins at only 40% of the rate of 2-8-week-old animals. The initial rates of incorporation of label were 145 cpm/mg/minute for the "old" animals, and 320 cpm/mg/minute for the "young" animal. No difference in either amino acid pool size or leakage of label through the mitochondrial membrane was detected in the two age groups. Treatment of the mitochondria with ferrous ammonium sulphate produced a 1.62 fold increase in mitochondrial protein synthesis in the young animal but not in the old. Hemin treatment produced a similar effect. These results suggest that the decrease in delta-aminolevulinic acid synthase activity seen with age (Paterniti et al., 1978) may be due to a decrease in the synthesis of mitochondrial inner membrane proteins.