Mitochondrial matrix pH acidifies during anoxia and is maintained by the FF-ATPase in anoxia-tolerant painted turtle cortical neurons.

The western painted turtle () can survive extended periods of anoxia via a series of mechanisms that serve to reduce its energetic needs. Central to these mechanisms is the response of mitochondria, which depolarize in response to anoxia in turtle pyramidal neurons due to an influx of K. It is currently unknown how mitochondrial matrix pH is affected by this response and we hypothesized that matrix pH acidifies during anoxia due to increased K/H exchanger activity.