Spectral and metabolic characteristics of mitochondrial fractions from rotenone-induced tumours

Mitochondrial fractions isolated from tumours induced with the respira- tory inhibitor rotenone lack respiratory control, oxidative phosphorylation, are partially or totally insensitive to cyanide and have a near-normal content of respiratory carriers.These characteristics are more similar to those of mitochondria from atrophic mammary gland than to those of mitochondria from spontaneous mam- mary adenomas.Thus, the characteristic structural and biochemical mitochondrial alteration of rotenone-induced tumours would represent a lack of mitochondrial differentiation as the tumour develops from the atrophic mammary gland.Slices of rotenone-induced tumours are insensitive to oligomycin and dinitrophenol, thus indicating that glycolysis would be their sole source of metabolic energy. MATERIAL AND METHODSPrimary tumours were induced by i.p. injections of rotenone (17 ,tg/g body wt) for 40 to 50 days to Wistar rats of 100+1 g