A study on liver mitochondria respiration and protein synthesis in cold adapted rats

Mitochondria were isolated from normal and cold adapted rat livers.The respiratory func-tion of mitochondria in rat livers,including ADP:O ratio(P/O)and the respiratory control ratio(RCR),was determined by oxygen electrode method,The protein synthesis in mitochondria wasstudied by observing the incorporation of[~3H]-Leucine into mitochondria.Polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis was carried out to detect the changes of the inner membrane proteins.It was shownthat the P/O and RCR decreased in cold adapted rats in the 2nd and 4th weeks and returned tothe control level in the 6th week,the protein synthesis of mitochondria decreased significantly incold adapted rats in 1,2 and 4 weeks;the electrophoretic pattern of the inner membrane proteinsin mitochondria from cold adapted rat livers revealed some new bands.