Increase in cystathionine content in rat liver mitochondria after D,L-propargylglycine administration.

Intraperitoneal administration of D,L-propargylglycine to rats resulted in an increase in the cystathionine content of whole liver and liver mitochondria. Cystathionine in mitochondria was identified by amino acid analysis, thin layer chromatography, high-voltage paper electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The cystathionine content of whole liver was 5.37 ± 1.59µmol per g of fresh liver at 14 h after the administration of 50 mg of D,L-propargylglycine per kg of body weight, while 0.07 ± 0.02µmol of cystathionine per g of fresh liver was detected in the control rats. The cystathionine content of liver mitochondria from both groups of rats was 9.40 ± 1.20 and 0.19 ± 0.04 nmol of cystathionine per mg of protein, respectively. The mitochondrial cystathionine increased dose-dependently with the increase of D,L-propargylglycine administered. The increase was proportional to the time after the administration up to 12 h, and then decreased. The increase of cystathionine in the liver mitochondria was linearly proportional to that in the whole liver. These results suggest that cystathionine in liver mitochondria is in an equilibrium with that in the cytosol.