Constitution of the Succinate and α-Glycerophosphate Oxidase Systems

Abstract

The succinate and glycerophosphate dehydrogenases belong to the group of ‘cytoehrome-reducing dehydrogenases’¹. In some tissues the succinic system is by far the more active, but in others (for example, rabbit skeletal muscle) the two systems are equally important. Hopkins et al.² suggested that in the succinoxidase system from heart muscle there was an intermediate factor linking the dehydrogenase with cytoehrome c. Stern and Melnick³ claimed to have separated the factor, although their evidence has been rightly questioned⁴. Straub⁵ has shown that an oxidase preparation lacking the factor can be reactivated by a heart-muscle dispersion in which the succinic dehydrogenase and cytoehrome oxidase have been destroyed. Experiments reported below show the existence in liver of a soluble factor which links or makes accessible the succinodehydrogenase to the cytoehrome system. This factor or activator is not necessary for the α-glycerophosphate system.