Effect of bilirubin on cytochrome c oxidase activity of mitochondria from mouse brain and liver

BACKGROUND: The unbound, free concentration (B(f)) of unconjugated bilirubin (UCB), and not the total UCB level, has been shown to correlate with bilirubin cytotoxicity, but the key molecular mechanisms accounting for the toxic effects of UCB are largely unknown. FINDINGS: Mouse liver mitochondria increase unbound UCB oxidation, consequently increasing the apparent rate constant for unbound UCB oxidation by HRP (Kp), higher than in control and mouse brain mitochondria, emphasizing the importance of determining Kp in complete systems containing the organelles being studied. The in vitro effects of UCB on cytochrome c oxidase activity in mitochondria isolated from mouse brain and liver were studied at B(f )ranging from 22 to 150 nM. The results show that UCB at B(f )up to 60 nM did not alter mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase activity, while the higher concentrations significantly inhibited the enzyme activity by 20% in both liver and brain mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that it is essential to include the organelles being studied in the medium used in measuring both Kp and B(f). A moderately elevated, pathophysiologically-relevant B(f )impaired the cytochrome c oxidase activity modestly in mitochondria from mouse brain and liver.