Characterization of reduced and oxidized dopamine and 3,4-dihydrophenylacetic acid, on brain mitochondrial electron transport chain activities.

Loss of dopamine (DA) homeostasis may be a contributing factor to cell damage in Parkinson's disease (PD). Past studies showing deleterious effects of DA on mitochondrial function, however, have been inconsistent raising questions about mitochondria as a downstream target for DA. Issues such as the dopamine species i.e., reduced or oxidized, time of exposure and the effect of major metabolites such as 3,4-dihydrophenylacetic acid (DOPAC) may contribute to the disparate findings. The present study used isolated, lysed rat brain mitochondria to characterize the effects of oxidized or reduced DA and DOPAC on complex activities of the electron transport chain (ETC). Time of exposure and quantitation of reduced or oxidized catachols for DA and DOPAC were monitored for all experiments. Reduced DA and DOPAC with or without a 30min preincubation had no affect on NADH oxidase activity which monitors the activities of complexes I, III and IV. Complex II activity was inhibited by reduced DA (≥500μM), but not by reduced DOPAC and was significantly attenuated by SOD suggesting reactive oxygen species involvement. In contrast, fully oxidized DA and DOPAC dose dependently inhibited NADH oxidase, complex I and complex III activities with IC(50s) in the 50-200μM range. No preincubation was required for inhibition with the catechols when they were fully oxidized. Oxidized DA inhibited complex I only when exposure occurred during stimulated electron flow, suggesting covalent binding of quinones to proteins within active sites of the complex. In intact, well coupled mitochondria, extramitochondrial DA was shown to access the mitochondrial matrix in a dose, time and energy-dependent fashion. The findings suggest that many of the reported inconsistencies with regards to the effects of DA and DOPAC on ETC function can be attributed to the oxidized state of the catechol at the time of exposure. In addition, the findings provide possible downstream targets for DA that could contribute to the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in PD.