Application of the theory of steady-state flux control to mitochondrial beta-oxidation.

The theory of steady-state flux control was applied to characterize the regulation of beta-oxidation flux in uncoupled rat liver mitochondria oxidizing palmitoylcarnitine in the presence of rotenone, malonate and the beta-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate redox buffer. By titrations with inhibitors such as antimycin, myxothiazol, azide and 4-pentenoic acid, the flux control coefficients of the b-c1 complex, cytochrome c oxidase and thiolase, were determined experimentally. The flux control coefficients of carnitine palmitoyltransferase II, ETF:CoQ oxidoreductase and beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase were determined from elasticity coefficients obtained by measuring the flux dependencies of acyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA+CoASH concentrations, the electron transfer flavoprotein redox state, the CoQ redox state and the NAD redox state. It was found that at low flux rates the flux control was distributed mainly between acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (Ci = 0.89). At maximum flux rates, carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (Ci = 0.35) and thiolase (Ci = 0.13) contribute additionally to the flux control. Thus, the phenomena of regulation of mitochondrial beta-oxidation can be described as multistep control.