On the mechanism by which dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and quinine inhibit K+ transport in rat liver mitochondria.

Passive uptake of potassium acetate into the mitochondrial matrix can be induced by nigericin, a K+/H+ antiporter, or by A23187, a Mg2+/2H+ antiporter. The latter process is thought to reflect operation of the Mg2+-dependent, endogenous K+/H+ antiporter, but there is ambiguity with respect to the mechanism of K+ transport in this assay (Nakashima, R.A., and Garlid, K.D. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 9252-9254). Kinetic analysis of potassium acetate transport provides verification that Mg2+ depletion 1) unmasks the K+/H+ antiporter, 2) opens up an intrinsic anion uniporter, 3) has no effect on acetic acid transport, and 4) does not induce high K+ uniport conductance. Mg2+-dependent uptake of potassium acetate is thereby shown to be mediated specifically by operation of the endogenous K+/H+ antiporter, as previously proposed. An extension of this analysis confirms that N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and quinine block potassium acetate uptake via specific action on the K+/H+ antiporter. These findings support those of a previous study (Martin, W.H., Beavis, A.D., and Garlid, K.D. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 2062-2065) in which binding of [14C]N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide to membrane proteins under selective conditions was used to identify an 82,000-dalton band as the protein responsible for K+/H+ antiport in mitochondria.