Photoaffinity labeling of the mitochondrial oxoglutarate carrier by azido-phthalonate

The effect of azido-phthalonate, a photoreactive analogue of oxoglutarate, on the transport of oxoglutarate was investigated in proteoliposomes reconstituted with the purified oxoglutarate carrier. In the dark, azido-phthalonate inhibits the reconstituted oxoglutarate/oxoglutarate exchange in a competitive manner with a Ki of 0.38 mM. Upon photoirradiation, the inhibition of the oxoglutarate exchange by azido-phthalonate is not removed by passing the proteoliposomes through a Sephadex column. The light-induced inhibition of the oxoglutarate/oxoglutarate exchange activity by azido-phthalonate is time- and concentration-dependent. The kinetic analysis of transport inhibition by azido-phthalonate reveals that one molecule of this substrate analogue bound to the functional carrier molecule is responsible for complete inhibition of the carrier function. Azido-[3H]phthalonate binds to the oxoglutarate carrier covalently. Incubation of the proteoliposomes with oxoglutarate during photoirradiation in the presence of azido-phthalonate protects the carrier against inactivation and decreases the amount of radioactivity which is found to be associated with the carrier protein. It is concluded that azido-phthalonate can be used for photoaffinity labeling of the mitochondrial oxoglutarate carrier at the substrate-binding site.