Abstract
THE phenothiazine tranquillizer chlorpromazine has the following actions: (1) It inhibits electron transport between reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide and cytochrome c in appropriate systems; the efficiency of the coupled phosphorylation is not affected. (2) Chlorpromazine is not effective in mitochondria treated with water or in non-phosphorylating reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide – cytochrome c reductase systems. (3) Chlorpromazine prevents the stimulation of respiration in systems deficient in adenosine diphosphate by 2 : 4 dinitrophenol (Table 1). (4) It causes some stimulation of respiration in mitochondrial systems deficient in inorganic phosphate, but not a maximal stimulation (Table 1), without causing any detectable increase in the level of inorganic phosphate. (5) It inhibits powerfully the exchange reaction phosphorus-32 – adenosine triphosphate1, under conditions in which electron transport cannot be affected (Table 2). (6) It has no effect on succinate – cytochrome c reductase in any system.
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References
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Dawkins, M. J. R., Judah, J. D., and Rees, K. R., Biochem. J. (in the press).
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DAWKINS, M., JUDAH, J. & REES, K. Mechanism of Oxidative Phosphorylation. Nature 182, 875–876 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/182875b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/182875b0
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