Respiratory Characteristics of Mitochondria Isolated from Squamous Epithelium of the Hamster Cheek Pouch

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

A procedure is described for the preparation of sheets of squamous epithelium from the cheek pouch of the Syrian golden hamster. The use of these sheets for the isolation of a mitochondrial fraction capable of coupled respiration is demonstrated. These mitochondria were compared to hamster liver mitochondria with respect to respiratory capacity, enzymatic activity, and cytochrome content. Squamous epithelial mitochondria exhibited increased rote-none-insensitive NADH cytochrome c re-ductase activity, while the activities of succi-nate cytochrome c reductase, oligomycin-sensitive ATPase, and cytochrome oxidase decreased. The ratios of cytochromes c/a + a3 and b/a + a3 were lower in squamous epithelial mitochondria.