R. Vock et al., DESIGN OF THE OXYGEN AND SUBSTRATE PATHWAYS .6. STRUCTURAL BASIS OF INTRACELLULAR SUBSTRATE SUPPLY TO MITOCHONDRIA IN MUSCLE-CELLS, Journal of Experimental Biology, 199(8), 1996, pp. 1689-1697
This paper quantifies the structures involved in the transport and oxi
dation of carbohydrates and fatty acids within the muscle cell, The st
ructural capacity is measured on whole-body random samples of the musc
ulature of dogs and pygmy goats and compared with maximal rates of oxy
gen consumption and substrate oxidation, Comparing dogs and goats of t
he same body size provided a 1.55-fold difference in the maximal rate
of oxidation when related to muscle mass. As in previous studies, we f
ound that the volume of mitochondria was approximately proportional to
aerobic capacity, The maximal glucose flux from intracellular stores
to mitochondria is 1.6 times greater in the dog than in the goat; we f
ind that the amount of glycogen stored in the muscle cells is 4.2 time
s as great in the dog, but part of the intracellular glycogen pool is
used for anaerobic rather than for oxidative metabolism, The maximal f
atty acid flux from intracellular stores to mitochondria is 1.5 times
larger in the dog, and the amount of lipid stored is 2.3 times as grea
t in the dog, Every lipid droplet is in direct contact with the outer
membrane of a mitochondrion and the contact surface area is 3.6 times
greater in the dog than in the goat, Additional measurements are neede
d to investigate the role of structural limitation at this step, The a
mount of substrates stored intracellularly in the muscle cells of the
dog is about twice as much as would match the differences in the maxim
al rates of utilization, This allows the endurance-specialized dogs to
run for longer periods at higher rates of oxidation.