Reconstitution of ornithine transport in liposomes with Lubrol extracts of mitochondria.

The ornithine translocase of beef liver mitochondria was extracted with Lubrol WX and reconstituted in liposomes. The uptake of ornithine by the reconstituted vesicles followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and was dependent on the intraliposomal pH, the time of sonication of the reconstituted liposomes and the phospholipid to detergent ratio. It is concluded that the ornithine translocator can be reconstituted, which makes the purification of this translocator feasible.