The indirect activation model of mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilisation (MOMP) initiation requires a trade-off between robustness in the absence of and sensitivity in the presence of stress

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas U. Lindner ◽  
Jochen H. M. Prehn ◽  
Heinrich J. Huber
2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C1166-C1166
Author(s):  
Jason Brouwer ◽  
Adeline Robin ◽  
Geoff Thompson ◽  
Ahmad Wardak ◽  
Ruth Kluck ◽  
...  

Apoptotic stimuli activate and oligomerise the pro-apoptotic proteins Bak and Bax resulting in mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilisation and subsequent cell death. This activation can occur when certain BH3-only proteins directly interact with Bak and Bax. A recent crystal structure by Czabotar et al. (2013) revealed a novel conformational change for Bax upon activation by BH3-only peptides. Distinguishing characteristics of BH3-only proteins capable of directly activating Bax were also elucidated. Here we describe complementary studies on the related protein Bak. We identify specific BH3-only peptides capable of inducing Bak dimerisation and describe crystal structures that provide key insights into Bak activation and oligomerisation. These structures demonstrate that Bak undergoes similar conformational changes upon activation to those observed with Bax. Altogether our results confirm an analogous mechanism for activation and dimerization of Bak and Bax in response to BH3-only peptides.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel S Riley ◽  
Giovanni Quarato ◽  
Jonathan Lopez ◽  
Jim O’Prey ◽  
Matthew Pearson ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring apoptosis, pro-apoptotic BAX and BAK are activated, causing mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilisation (MOMP), caspase activation and cell death. However, even in the absence of caspase activity, cells usually die following MOMP. Such caspase-independent cell death is accompanied by inflammation that requires mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) activation of cGAS-STING signaling. Because the mitochondrial inner membrane is thought to remain intact during apoptosis, we sought to address how matrix mtDNA could activate the cytosolic cGAS-STING signaling pathway. Strikingly, using super-resolution imaging, we show that mtDNA is efficiently released from mitochondria following MOMP. In a temporal manner, we find that following MOMP, BAX/BAK-mediated mitochondrial outer membrane pores gradually widen over time. This allows extrusion of the mitochondrial inner membrane into the cytosol whereupon it permeablises allowing mtDNA release. Our data demonstrate that mitochondrial inner membrane permeabilisation can occur during cell death in a BAX/BAK-dependent manner. Importantly, by enabling the cytosolic release of mtDNA, inner membrane permeabilisation underpins the immunogenic effects of caspase-independent cell death.


Author(s):  
Xiao-Wei Guo

Voltage-dependent, anion-selective channels (VDAC) are formed in the mitochondrial outer membrane (mitOM) by a 30-kDa polypeptide. These channels form ordered 2D arrays when mitOMs from Neurospora crassa are treated with soluble phospholipase A2. We obtain low-dose electron microscopic images of unstained specimens of VDAC crystals preserved in vitreous ice, using a Philips EM420 equipped with a Gatan cryo-transfer stage. We then use correlation analysis to compute average projections of the channel crystals. The procedure involves Fourier-filtration of a region within a crystal field to obtain a preliminary average that is subsequently cross-correlated with the entire crystal. Subregions are windowed from the crystal image at coordinates of peaks in the cross-correlation function (CCF, see Figures 1 and 2) and summed to form averages (Figure 3).The VDAC channel forms several different types of crystalline arrays in mitOMs. The polymorph first observed during phospholipase treatment is a parallelogram array (a=13 run, b=11.5 run, θ==109°) containing 6 water-filled pores per unit cell. Figure 1 shows the CCF of a sub-field of such an “oblique” array used to compute the correlation average of Figure 3A. With increased phospholipase treatment, other polymorphs are observed, often co-existing within the same crystal. For example, two distinct (but closely related) types of lattices occur in the field corresponding to the CCF of Figure 2: a “contracted” version of the parallelogram lattice (a=13 run, b=10 run, θ=99°), and a near-rectangular lattice (a=8.5 run, b=5 nm). The pattern of maxima in this CCF suggests that a third, near-hexagonal lattice (a=4.5 nm) may also be present. The correlation averages of Figures 3B-D were computed from polycrystalline fields, using peak coordinates in regions of CCFs corresponding to each of the three lattice types.


2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (5) ◽  
pp. C1109-C1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Guo ◽  
Dawn Pietkiewicz ◽  
Evgeny V. Pavlov ◽  
Sergey M. Grigoriev ◽  
John J. Kasianowicz ◽  
...  

Recent studies indicate that cytochrome c is released early in apoptosis without loss of integrity of the mitochondrial outer membrane in some cell types. The high-conductance mitochondrial apoptosis-induced channel (MAC) forms in the outer membrane early in apoptosis of FL5.12 cells. Physiological (micromolar) levels of cytochrome c alter MAC activity, and these effects are referred to as types 1 and 2. Type 1 effects are consistent with a partitioning of cytochrome c into the pore of MAC and include a modest decrease in conductance that is dose and voltage dependent, reversible, and has an increase in noise. Type 2 effects may correspond to “plugging” of the pore or destabilization of the open state. Type 2 effects are a dose-dependent, voltage-independent, and irreversible decrease in conductance. MAC is a heterogeneous channel with variable conductance. Cytochrome c affects MAC in a pore size-dependent manner, with maximal effects of cytochrome c on MAC with conductance of 1.9–5.4 nS. The effects of cytochrome c, RNase A, and high salt on MAC indicate that size, rather than charge, is crucial. The effects of dextran molecules of various sizes indicate that the pore diameter of MAC is slightly larger than that of 17-kDa dextran, which should be sufficient to allow the passage of 12-kDa cytochrome c. These findings are consistent with the notion that MAC is the pore through which cytochrome c is released from mitochondria during apoptosis.


1993 ◽  
Vol 268 (34) ◽  
pp. 25265-25268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Nguyen ◽  
D G Millar ◽  
V W Yong ◽  
S J Korsmeyer ◽  
G C Shore

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