FREE RADICALS IN HEART MUSCLE MITOCHONDRIAL PARTICLES: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND LOCALIZATION IN THE ELECTRON TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Abstract
Quantitative observations on the kinetic properties of free radicals which occur in particles derived from the sarcosomes of pig-heart muscle are reported. Data is presented which allow the localization of free radicals in a particular segment of the heart particle electron transport system and permit the biochemical description of mechanisms in which the free radicals participate. The suggestion is made that the free radicals arise from equilibrium processes catalyzed by succinic dehydrogenase and that their steady-state concentration is governed by parameters which affect this equilibrium.