['Thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) is the active form of thiamine, and it serves as a cofactor for several enzymes, both cytosolic and mitochondrial. Isolated mitochondria have been shown to take up thiamine yet thiamine diphosphokinase is cytosolic and not present in mitochondria. Previous reports indicate that ThDP can also be taken up by rat mitochondria, but the kinetic constants associated with such uptake seemed not to be physiologically relevant.', 'Here we examine ThDP uptake by mitochondria from several human cell types, including cells from patients with thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia (TRMA) that lack a functional thiamine transporter of the plasma membrane. Although mitochondria from normal lymphoblasts took up thiamine in the low micromolar range, surprisingly mitochondria from TRMA lymphoblasts lacked this uptake component. ThDP was taken up efficiently by mitochondria isolated from either normal or TRMA lymphoblasts. Uptake was saturable and biphasic with a high affinity component characterized by a Km of 0.4 to 0.6 microM. Mitochondria from other cell types possessed a similar high affinity uptake component with variation seen in uptake capacity as revealed by differences in Vmax values.'] Do mitochondria from cultured cells derived from normal and thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia individuals efficiently import thiamine diphosphate?