Effects of ethidium bromide treatment of mouse cells on expression and assembly of nuclear-coded subunits of complexes involved in the oxidative phosphorylation.

Using mouse cell lines 5P and 5PEr (ethidium bromide-resistant derivative of 5P), we examined the influence of blocking expression of mitochondrial-gene products with ethidium bromide on the expression and assemblies of nuclear-coded subunits of the complexes involved in the oxidative phosphorylation. The results suggest that in the absence of mitochondrial-coded products, the expressions of subunit VIc of complex IV and beta-subunit of F1-ATPase are not affected, but that most nuclear-coded subunits other than alpha- and beta-subunits of F1-ATPase cannot be assembled nor inserted into the inner membrane.