Abstract
THE possibility of reversing energy-dependent ion transport to synthesize ATP1,2 has apparently been realized in the case of chloroplasts subjected to acid-base transitions3. In no other case has net ATP synthesis coupled to ion transport been reported although incorporation of phosphorus-32 into ATP has been shown to be enhanced in erythrocytes by adjusting the sodium and potassium gradients so as to “reverse the Na+-pump”4 and during step-changes in pH applied to mitochondria5. The high apparent efficiency of the accumulation of potassium supported by ATP in mitochondria treated with the antibiotic valinomycin6 suggested that, provided the kinetic barrier was not inordinately large, ATP synthesis should be demonstrable in the absence of respiration if the direction of net potassium movement were reversed (that is, during potassium efflux).
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COCKRELL, R., HARRIS, E. & PRESSMAN, B. Synthesis of ATP driven by a Potassium Gradient in Mitochondria. Nature 215, 1487–1488 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/2151487a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2151487a0
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