Carnitine palmitoyl transferase activity in Morris Hepatoma 7777 mitochondria and its sensitivity to malonyl CoA inhibition

Earlier reports in the literature have indicated no detectable Carnitine Palymitoyl Transferase (CPT) activity in homogenates prepared from Morris Hepatoma 7777. In its study CPT activity in isolated mitochondria (mito) was measured by butanol extraction of the [3H]palmitoyl carnitine formed as outlined by Bremer et al. Contrary to the earlier work where no appreciable activity of CPT was observed the authors find significant levels of CPT (2.6 nMol/min/mg protein) in isolated mito from Morris Hepatoma 7777 (MH 7777). The level of CPT activity observed in MH 7777 mito was, however, 36% lower compared to the host liver CPT activity (4.1 nMol/min/mg protein). The enzyme in MH 7777 mito showed 83% inhibition in the presence of 10 μM malonyl CoA, in agreement with the degree of sensitivity observed with the host liver isolated mito. On freeze thawing host mito, total CPT activity increased and the sensitivity of the enzyme to malonyl CoA decreased. Frozen thawed MH 7777 mito showed a similar response to malonyl CoA but no change in the total CPT level was observed. The authors results establish for the first time the presence of a malonyl CoA sensitive CPT in MH 7777 mito, which may have slightly different properties from normal due to the membrane environment of the enzyme