The properties of two carnitine acyltransferases (CPT) purified from bovine liver are compared to confirm that they are different proteins. The soluble CPT and the inner CPT from mitochondria differ in subunit Mr, native Mr, pI and reactivity with thiol reagents. All eight free thiol groups in soluble CPT react with 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate) in the absence of any unfolding reagent, and activity is gradually lost. The inner CPT activity is completely stable in the presence of 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate), and only one thiol group per molecule of subunit is modified in the native enzyme. Antisera to each enzyme inhibit that enzyme, but do not cross-react. CPT activity in subcellular fractions can now be identified by titration with these antibodies. The soluble CPT from bovine liver is probably peroxisomal in origin, but, although antigenically similar, it differs from the peroxisomal carnitine octanoyltransferase found in rat and mouse liver in its specificity for the longer-chain acyl-CoA substrates.
