New moonlighting functions of mitochondrial cytochrome c in the cytoplasm and nucleus

FEBS Letters

article

Katiuska González-Arzola¹  Alejandro Velázquez-Cruz¹  Alejandra Guerra-Castellano¹  Miguel Á. Casado-Combreras¹  Gonzalo Pérez-Mejías¹  Antonio Díaz-Quintana¹  Irene Díaz-Moreno¹  Miguel Á. De la Rosa¹ 

[1] Institute for Chemical Research (IIQ), Scientific Research Centre Isla de la Cartuja (cicCartuja), University of Seville-CSIC

关键词: apoptosis;    apoptosome;    caspase;    chromatin dynamics;    cytochrome c;    DNA damage response;    double-strand break;    histone chaperones;    nuclear import;    programmed cell death;   

DOI  :  10.1002/1873-3468.13655

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

Cytochrome c (Cc) is a protein that functions as an electron carrier in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. However, Cc has moonlighting roles outside mitochondria driving the transition of apoptotic cells from life to death. When living cells are damaged, Cc escapes its natural mitochondrial environment and, once in the cytosol, it binds other proteins to form a complex named the apoptosome—a platform that triggers caspase activation and further leads to controlled cell dismantlement. Early released Cc also binds to inositol 1,4,5- triphosphate receptors on the ER membrane, which stimulates further massive Cc release from mitochondria. Besides the well-characterized binding proteins contributing to the proapoptotic functions of Cc, many novel protein targets have been recently described. Among them, histone chaperones were identified as key partners of Cc following DNA breaks, indicating that Cc might modulate chromatin dynamics through competitive binding to histone chaperones. In this article, we review the ample set of recently discovered antiapoptotic proteins—involved in DNA damage, transcription, and energetic metabolism —reported to interact with Cc in the cytoplasm and even the nucleus upon DNA breaks.

【 授权许可】

Unknown