TY - JOUR
T1 - Weak-acid uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation. Mechanism of action on thin lipid membranes
AU - Finkelstein, Alan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Grant NB 03356 and Grant No. 14-Ol-OOO1-1277 from the Office of Saline Water, U.S. Department of the Interior. The author is a Career Development Awardee of the U.S. Public Health Service.
PY - 1970/4/7
Y1 - 1970/4/7
N2 - Weak-acid uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation such as p-trifluoromethoxycarbonylcyanidephenylhydrazone, tetrachloro-2-trifluoromethylbenzimidazole, m-chlorocarbonylcyanidephenylhydrazone, and 2,4-dinitrophenol can increase the conductance of thin lipid membranes by several orders of magnitude. In this high conductance state these membranes appear to be ideally selectively permeable to H+ or OH-. We suggest, however, that the primary charge carrier in the membrane is neither H+ or OH-, but rather a dimer formed between the undissociated and dissociated form of the weak acid, and we show that all of the data on the action of these weak acids on thin lipid membranes are consistent with this picture.
AB - Weak-acid uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation such as p-trifluoromethoxycarbonylcyanidephenylhydrazone, tetrachloro-2-trifluoromethylbenzimidazole, m-chlorocarbonylcyanidephenylhydrazone, and 2,4-dinitrophenol can increase the conductance of thin lipid membranes by several orders of magnitude. In this high conductance state these membranes appear to be ideally selectively permeable to H+ or OH-. We suggest, however, that the primary charge carrier in the membrane is neither H+ or OH-, but rather a dimer formed between the undissociated and dissociated form of the weak acid, and we show that all of the data on the action of these weak acids on thin lipid membranes are consistent with this picture.
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U2 - 10.1016/0005-2728(70)90055-1
DO - 10.1016/0005-2728(70)90055-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 5439517
AN - SCOPUS:0014935870
SN - 0005-2728
VL - 205
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Bioenergetics
JF - Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Bioenergetics
IS - 1
ER -