Publications

• The purified and reconstituted ornithine/citrulline carrier from rat liver mitochondria catalyses a second transport mode: ornithine+/H+ exchange.

  Indiveri C., Tonazzi A., Stipani I., Palmieri F.

  The mechanism of unidirectional transport of ornithine (i.e. in the absence of a counter-metabolite) has been investigated in proteoliposomes reconstituted with the ornithine carrier purified from rat liver mitochondria. The efflux of [(3)H]ornithine from proteoliposomes was stimulated by the addi ... >> More

  The mechanism of unidirectional transport of ornithine (i.e. in the absence of a counter-metabolite) has been investigated in proteoliposomes reconstituted with the ornithine carrier purified from rat liver mitochondria. The efflux of [(3)H]ornithine from proteoliposomes was stimulated by the addition of H(+) (but not of other cations) to the incubation medium. On keeping the pH in the compartment containing ornithine constant at 8.0, the flux of ornithine into or out of the proteoliposomes increased on decreasing the pH in the opposite compartment from 8.0 to 6.0. Ornithine influx was also stimulated when a higher H(+) concentration was generated inside the vesicles relative to the outside by the K(+)/H(+) exchanger nigericin in the presence of an outwardly directed K(+) gradient. A valinomycin-induced electrogenic flux of K(+) did not affect ornithine transport in the absence of a counter-metabolite. Furthermore, changes in fluorescence of the pH indicator pyranine, included inside the proteoliposomes, showed that the flux of ornithine is accompanied by translocation of H(+) in the opposite direction. It is concluded that the mitochondrial ornithine carrier catalyses an electroneutral exchange of ornithine(+) for H(+), in addition to the well-known 1:1 exchange of metabolites. Lysine(+), but not citrulline, can also be exchanged for H(+) by the ornithine carrier. The ornithine(+)/H(+) transport mode of the exchanger is an essential step in the catabolism of excess arginine. << Less

  Biochem. J. 341:705-711(1999) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 2 other entries.

• The purified and reconstituted ornithine/citrulline carrier from rat liver mitochondria: electrical nature and coupling of the exchange reaction with H+ translocation.

  Indiveri C., Tonazzi A., Stipani I., Palmieri F.

  The mechanism and the electrical nature of ornithine/citrulline exchange has been investigated in proteoliposomes reconstituted with the ornithine/citrulline carrier purified from rat liver mitochondria. The stoichiometry of the exchanging substrates was close to 1:1. The exchange was not affected ... >> More

  The mechanism and the electrical nature of ornithine/citrulline exchange has been investigated in proteoliposomes reconstituted with the ornithine/citrulline carrier purified from rat liver mitochondria. The stoichiometry of the exchanging substrates was close to 1:1. The exchange was not affected by inducing electrogenic flux of K+ with valinomycin. In contrast, the pH gradient generated by the K+/H+ exchanger nigericin in the presence of an outwardly directed K+ gradient stimulated the ornithineout/citrullinein exchange, but not the ornithine/ornithine homoexchange. Experiments in which either the internal or the external pH was varied, while keeping constant the pH in the other compartment, indicated that maximal exchange rates are found at pH 6 in the compartment containing citrulline and at pH 8 in the compartment containing ornithine. Changes in fluorescence of the pH indicator pyranine, included inside the proteoliposomes, showed that the exchanges ornithineout/citrullinein and citrullineout/ornithinein are accompanied by translocation of H+ in the same direction as citrulline. It is concluded that the mitochondrial ornithine/citrulline carrier catalyses an electroneutral exchange of ornithine+ for citrulline plus an H+. A reasonable model is one in which ornithine binds to a deprotonated carrier and citrulline to a protonated carrier and both substrate-carrier complexes are neutral. The physiological implications of this transport process are discussed. << Less

  Biochem. J. 327:349-355(1997) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• The mitochondrial ornithine transporter. Bacterial expression, reconstitution, functional characterization, and tissue distribution of two human isoforms.

  Fiermonte G., Dolce V., David L., Santorelli F.M., Dionisi-Vici C., Palmieri F., Walker J.E.

  Two isoforms of the human ornithine carrier, ORC1 and ORC2, have been identified by overexpression of the proteins in bacteria and by study of the transport properties of the purified proteins reconstituted into liposomes. Both transport L-isomers of ornithine, lysine, arginine, and citrulline by ... >> More

  Two isoforms of the human ornithine carrier, ORC1 and ORC2, have been identified by overexpression of the proteins in bacteria and by study of the transport properties of the purified proteins reconstituted into liposomes. Both transport L-isomers of ornithine, lysine, arginine, and citrulline by exchange and by unidirectional mechanisms, and they are inactivated by the same inhibitors. ORC2 has a broader specificity than ORC1, and L- and D-histidine, L-homoarginine, and D-isomers of ornithine, lysine, and ornithine are all substrates. Both proteins are expressed in a wide range of human tissues, but ORC1 is the predominant form. The highest levels of expression of both isoforms are in the liver. Five mutant forms of ORC1 associated with the human disease hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria were also made. The mutations abolish the transport properties of the protein. In patients with hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria, isoform ORC2 is unmodified, and its presence compensates partially for defective ORC1. << Less

  J. Biol. Chem. 278:32778-32783(2003) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 8 other entries.