High-resolution respirometry with multiple substrates titration in permeabilized myocardial fibers.

The present study was purported to standardize the high-resolution respirometry technique for the analysis of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in saponin-skinned cardiac fibers. Preparation of permeabilized myocardial fibers allows the assessment of respiratory function of the entire population of mitochondria in their normal intracellular position. Adult male rat ventricular bundles were permeabilized with saponin (50 microg/ml) and samples (1-3 mg wet weight) were transferred into the Oxygraph-2k (OROBOROS Instr., Austria) chambers containing air saturated incubation buffer in order to measure Complex I (CI) and II (CII) dependent respiration. The following values (expressed in pmol O2 x s(-1) x mg(-1)) were obtained: CI_LEAK, 67.18 +/- 5.12 (CI dependent basal respiration, after glutamate and malate addition); CI_P, 247.37 +/- 49.90 (CI_OXPHOS state after ADP addition); CI_Pc, 252.036 +/- 53.13 (the intactness of the outer mitochondrial membrane assessed after cytochrome c addition); CI+II_P, 342.90 +/- 62.48 (maximum OXPHOS state obtained after succinate addition by activating convergent electron flow from CI+II into the Q junction of the electron transport system (ETS); CII_P, 302.26 +/- 50.16 (CII dependent OXPHOS state obtained after the addition of a CI inhibitor rotenone, with the subsequent entry of electrons from CII only into the Q junction); ETS capacity, 331.11 +/- 62.39 (uncoupled respiration). The standardized technique will allow the systematic characterization of mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction associated with several cardiac pathologies in both animals and humans.