Uses
Coenzyme Q4 (CoQ4) is a 4 isoprenyl group member of a family of ubiquinones that share a quinine chemical group but differ in the number of isoprenyl chemical subunits in their tail. The CoQ compounds are lipid soluble components of cell membranes where they perform multiple functions such as electron and proton transport. The most well studied CoQ compound is CoQ10. CoQ4 is frequently used in comparison studies on the effect of isoprenyl chain length on CoQ functions or distribution.
Definition
ChEBI: Coenzyme Q4 is a member of ubiquinones.
Biochem/physiol Actions
Increases the fluorescence polarization of perylene incorporated into ubiquinone-depleted mitochondrial and bilayer vesicles prepared from mitochondrial phospholipids
Purification Methods
It is a redoil which can be purified by chromatography on SiO2 plates and eluted with Et2O/hexane. The purity is checked by HPLC (silica column using 7% Et2O/hexane). It has max 270 nm ( 14,800) in pet ether. [NMR and MS: Naruta J Org Chem 45 4097 1980, cf Morton Biochemical Spectroscopy (Adam Hilger, London, 1975) p 491]. It has also been dissolved in MeOH/EtOH (1:1 v/v) and kept at 5o until crystals appear [Lester & Crane Biochim Biophys Acta 32 497 1958].
