Kinetics of regulation of respiration by ADP in skinned cardiac fibers and permeabilized isolated hepatocytes was compared before and after mitochondrial swelling due to hypoosmotic treatment in 30-50 mOsM solutions. In both systems the apparent Km for ADP was high before mitochondrial swelling and equal to 297 +/- 35 microM and 275 +/- 35 microM, correspondingly. Hypoosmotic treatment resulted in the rupture of outer mitochondrial membrane and in the loss of exogenous cytochrome c, and both in skinned cardiac fibers and permeabilized hepatocytes the value of apparent Km for ADP was decreased in correlation with the extent of the rupture of the outer mitochondrial membrane. It is concluded that both in heart and liver cells in vivo, the ADP diffusion in the cells is retarded due to very low permeability of the outer mitochondrial membrane for ADP.