The location of coproporphyrinogen III oxidase in mitochondria was studied in rat liver by using the digitonin method or hypo-osmotic media for fractionation. The enzyme was found in the intermembrane space with a fraction loosely bound to the inner membrane. This fraction was released by washing the inner-membrane-matrix complex with alkaline solutions or solutions of high ionic strength. The enzyme in both fractions had the same Km (0.16 micrometer) for coproporphyrinogen III. When incubation was performed in a medium that avoided destruction of enzyme membrane binding, a dramatic increase in activity was observed after sonication of whole mitochondria or of the inner-membrane-matrix complex.

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