Paper 3

Burcham, P., & Harman, A. (1991). Acetaminophen Toxicity Results in Site-specific Mitochondrial Damage in Isolated Mouse Hepatocytes. Retrieved from http://www.jbc.org/content/266/8/5049.full.pdf

This paper highlights experimental data to demonstrate how NAPQI causes a loss of hepatocyte mitochondrial membrane potential, thus preventing ATP synthesis by ATP synthase. Several studies demonstrate that the concentration of NAPQI affects electron transport chain (ETC) activity. In this study, researchers were able to determine how [NAPQI] influences particular enzymes in the ETC. They found that complex II activity  significantly decreased as [NAPQI] increased. The researchers also attributed the enzyme’s cysteine-rich sulfur clusters to its inhibition by NAPQI, since the toxin is known to arylate thiol groups.