Investigation by amperometric methods of intracellular reduction of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol in normal and transformed hepatocytes in the presence of different inhibitors of cellular metabolism.
The reduction of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP) was measured by amperometric methods in Morris hepatoma 3924A cells, normal isolated rat hepatocytes and in mitochondria isolated from normal rat liver. The influence of aerobic and anaerobic atmospheres and of various inhibitors of cellular metabolism, especially of the respiratory chain (KCN, NaN3, oligomycin), on DCIP-reduction were studied using glucose, succinate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, alpha-keto-glutarate and oxalacetate as substrates. Under the influence of KCN and oligomycin the velocity of DCIP-reduction was increased in both cell types. Azide showed a similar effect on tumour cells and to a lower extent on hepatocytes. Using isolated mitochondria total DCIPred was increased by KCN and azide using various mitochondrial metabolites as substrates and with ADP/Pi present. The effects of KCN, azide and oligomycin could be explained by taking DCIP as an artificial coupling site in mitochondria which is only used when oxygen is absent or when the respiratory chain is blocked by inhibitors of cytochrome oxidase. Evaluation of the reaction kinetics revealed differences between normal and transformed cells in terms of the pseudo-first-order rate constants and the activity of overall oxidoreductases. The results apparently reflect quantitative differences in enzymatic equipment and the metabolic pathways predominating in normal and neoplastic cells.