The interactions of SDS with mitochondria from rat liver

In a previous paper it has been proposed that sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) is an uncoupler (or protonophore) of the oxidative phosphorylation. In the present work we give evidences that the enhancement of proton conductivity by SDS is only a particular case of a more general behaviour of SDS which, like many other detergents, induces enhancement of permeability for all ions. This is a detergent effect due to the interaction of SDS with the hydrophobic chain of the membrane phospholipidic bilayer. The detergent effect is also responsible for the already observed respiratory chain inhibition.