Subunit structure of submitochondrial particle membrane transhydrogenase.

The subunit structure of membrane-bound mitochondrial transhydrogenase was investigated. Chemical modification of bovine heart submitochondrial particles with the cleavable bifunctional cross-linking reagent, dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate), resulted in the formation of three dimeric "cross-link isomers" of the enzyme, identified by immunoautoradiography, that are characteristic of cross-linked purified transhydrogenase. A limited amount of cross-linking of transhydrogenase monomer to Mr = 25,000 polypeptide was also observed. At high concentration of the cross-linker, a small amount of a higher molecular weight species was formed with both purified and membrane enzyme. Reductive cleavage of the dimeric and higher molecular weight species resulted in the regeneration of transhydrogenase monomer and several other proteolytically derived fragments. It is concluded that transhydrogenase exists in the native membrane primarily as a dimeric species.