scholarly journals Renaissance of VDAC: New Insights on a Protein Family at the Interface between Mitochondria and Cytosol

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Vito De Pinto

It has become impossible to review all the existing literature on Voltage-Dependent Anion selective Channel (VDAC) in a single article. A real Renaissance of studies brings this protein to the center of decisive knowledge both for cell physiology and therapeutic application. This review, after highlighting the similarities between the cellular context and the study methods of the solute carriers present in the inner membrane and VDAC in the outer membrane of the mitochondria, will focus on the isoforms of VDAC and their biochemical characteristics. In particular, the possible reasons for their evolutionary onset will be discussed. The variations in their post-translational modifications and the differences between the regulatory regions of their genes, probably the key to understanding the current presence of these genes, will be described. Finally, the situation in the higher eukaryotes will be compared to that of yeast, a unicellular eukaryote, where there is only one active isoform and the role of VDAC in energy metabolism is better understood.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (20) ◽  
pp. 7432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micaela Gliozzi ◽  
Federica Scarano ◽  
Vincenzo Musolino ◽  
Cristina Carresi ◽  
Miriam Scicchitano ◽  
...  

Clinical management of diabetic cardiomyopathy represents an unmet need owing to insufficient knowledge about the molecular mechanisms underlying the dysfunctional heart. The aim of this work is to better clarify the role of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) isoforms and of translocator protein (TSPO)/voltage-dependent anion-selective channel 1 (VDAC1) modulation in the development of hyperglycaemia-induced myocardial injury. Hyperglycaemia was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats through a streptozocin injection (35 mg/Kg, i.p.). After 60 days, cardiac function was analysed by echocardiography. Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate NADPH oxidase and TSPO expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. MMP-2 activity was detected by zymography. Superoxide anion production was estimated by MitoSOX™ staining. Voltage-dependent anion-selective channel 1 (VDAC-1), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and cytochrome C expression was assessed by Western blot. Hyperglycaemic rats displayed cardiac dysfunction; this response was characterized by an overexpression of NADPH oxidase, accompanied by an increase of superoxide anion production. Under hyperglycaemia, increased expression of TSPO and VDAC1 was detected. MMP-2 downregulated activity occurred under hyperglycemia and this profile of activation was accompanied by the translocation of intracellular N-terminal truncated isoform of MMP-2 (NT-MMP-2) from mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM) into mitochondria. In the onset of diabetic cardiomyopathy, mitochondrial impairment in cardiomyocytes is characterized by the dysregulation of the different MMP-2 isoforms. This can imply the generation of a “frail” myocardial tissue unable to adapt itself to stress.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anasuya Moitra ◽  
Doron Rapaport

Voltage dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) is the most abundant protein in the mitochondrial outer membrane. It is a membrane embedded β-barrel protein composed of 19 mostly anti-parallel β-strands that form a hydrophilic pore. Similar to the vast majority of mitochondrial proteins, VDAC is encoded by nuclear DNA, and synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes. The protein is then targeted to the mitochondria while being maintained in an import competent conformation by specific cytosolic factors. Recent studies, using yeast cells as a model system, have unearthed the long searched for mitochondrial targeting signal for VDAC and the role of cytosolic chaperones and mitochondrial import machineries in its proper biogenesis. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge regarding the early cytosolic stages of the biogenesis of VDAC molecules, the specific targeting of VDAC to the mitochondrial surface, and the subsequent integration of VDAC into the mitochondrial outer membrane by the TOM and TOB/SAM complexes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 2415-2425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nieves Ayllón ◽  
Margarita Villar ◽  
Ann T. Busby ◽  
Katherine M. Kocan ◽  
Edmour F. Blouin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAnaplasma phagocytophilumcauses human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Infection with this zoonotic pathogen affects gene expression in both the vertebrate host and the tick vector,Ixodes scapularis. Here, we identified new genes, including spectrin alpha chain or alpha-fodrin (CG8) and voltage-dependent anion-selective channel or mitochondrial porin (T2), that are involved inA. phagocytophiluminfection/multiplication and the tick cell response to infection. The pathogen downregulated the expression of CG8 in tick salivary glands and T2 in both the gut and salivary glands to inhibit apoptosis as a mechanism to subvert host cell defenses and increase infection. In the gut, the tick response to infection through CG8 upregulation was used by the pathogen to increase infection due to the cytoskeleton rearrangement that is required for pathogen infection. These results increase our understanding of the role of tick genes duringA. phagocytophiluminfection and multiplication and demonstrate that the pathogen uses similar strategies to establish infection in both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts.


2003 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Kmita ◽  
Małgorzata Budzińska ◽  
Olgierd Stobienia

It is well known that effective exchange of metabolites between mitochondria and the cytoplasm is essential for cell physiology. The key step of the exchange is transport across the mitochondrial outer membrane, which is supported by the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC). Therefore, it is clear that the permeability of VDAC must be regulated to adjust its activity to the actual cell needs. VDAC-modulating activities, often referred to as the VDAC modulator, were identified in the intermembrane space of different organism mitochondria but the responsible protein(s) has not been identified as yet. Because the VDAC modulator was reported to act on VDAC of intact mitochondria when added to the cytoplasmic side it has been speculated that a similar modulating activity might be present in the cytoplasm. To check the speculation we used mitochondria of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as they constitute a perfect model to study VDAC modulation. The mitochondria contain only a single isoform of VDAC and it is possible to obtain viable mutants devoid of the channel (Deltapor1). Moreover, we have recently characterised a VDAC-modulating activity located in the intermembrane space of wild type and Deltapor1 S. cerevisiae mitochondria. Here, we report that the cytoplasm of wild type and Deltapor1 cells of S. cerevisiae contains a VDAC-modulating activity as measured in a reconstituted system and with intact mitochondria. Since quantitative differences were observed between the modulating fractions isolated from wild type and Deltapor1 cells when they were studied with intact wild type mitochondria as well as by protein electrophoresis it might be concluded that VDAC may influence the properties of the involved cytoplasmic proteins. Moreover, the VDAC-modulating activity in the cytoplasm differs distinctly from that reported for the mitochondrial intermembrane space. Nevertheless, both these activities may contribute efficiently to VDAC regulation. Thus, the identification of the proteins is very important.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manman Li ◽  
Zitong Wang ◽  
Pengyu Wang ◽  
Hong Li ◽  
Liming Yang

Atherosclerosis, predominantly characterized by the disturbance of lipid homeostasis, has become the main causation of various cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement to explore efficacious targets that act as lipid modulators for atherosclerosis. Transcription factor EB (TFEB), whose activity depends on post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, SUMOylation, ubiquitination, etc., is significant for normal cell physiology. Recently, increasing evidence implicates a role of TFEB in lipid homeostasis, via its functionality of promoting lipid degradation and efflux through mediating lipophagy, lipolysis, and lipid metabolism-related genes. Furthermore, a regulatory effect on lipid transporters and lipid mediators by TFEB is emerging. Notably, TFEB makes a possible therapeutic target of atherosclerosis by regulating lipid metabolism. This review recapitulates the update and current advances on TFEB mediating lipid metabolism to focus on two intracellular activities: a) how cells perceive external stimuli and initiate transcription programs to modulate TFEB function, and b) how TFEB restores lipid homeostasis in the atherosclerotic process. In-depth research is warranted to develop potent agents against TFEB to alleviate or reverse the progression of atherosclerosis.


Author(s):  
Edna S. Kaneshiro

It is currently believed that ciliary beating results from microtubule sliding which is restricted in regions to cause bending. Cilia beat can be modified to bring about changes in beat frequency, cessation of beat and reversal in beat direction. In ciliated protozoans these modifications which determine swimming behavior have been shown to be related to intracellular (intraciliary) Ca2+ concentrations. The Ca2+ levels are in turn governed by the surface ciliary membrane which exhibits increased Ca2+ conductance (permeability) in response to depolarization. Mutants with altered behaviors have been isolated. Pawn mutants fail to exhibit reversal of the effective stroke of ciliary beat and therefore cannot swim backward. They lack the increased inward Ca2+ current in response to depolarizing stimuli. Both normal and pawn Paramecium made leaky to Ca2+ by Triton extrac¬tion of the surface membrane exhibit backward swimming only in reactivating solutions containing greater than IO-6 M Ca2+ Thus in pawns the ciliary reversal mechanism itself is left operational and only the control mechanism at the membrane is affected. The topographic location of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels has been identified as a component of the ciliary mem¬brane since the inward Ca2+ conductance response is eliminated by deciliation and the return of the response occurs during cilia regeneration. Since the ciliary membrane has been impli¬cated in the control of Ca2+ levels in the cilium and therefore is the site of at least one kind of control of microtubule sliding, we have focused our attention on understanding the structure and function of the membrane.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1597-1610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taru Aggarwal ◽  
Ridhima Wadhwa ◽  
Riya Gupta ◽  
Keshav Raj Paudel ◽  
Trudi Collet ◽  
...  

Regardless of advances in detection and treatment, breast cancer affects about 1.5 million women all over the world. Since the last decade, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been extensively conducted for breast cancer to define the role of miRNA as a tool for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutics. MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that are associated with the regulation of key cellular processes such as cell multiplication, differentiation, and death. They cause a disturbance in the cell physiology by interfering directly with the translation and stability of a targeted gene transcript. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a large family of non-coding RNAs, which regulate target gene expression and protein levels that affect several human diseases and are suggested as the novel markers or therapeutic targets, including breast cancer. MicroRNA (miRNA) alterations are not only associated with metastasis, tumor genesis but also used as biomarkers for breast cancer diagnosis or prognosis. These are explained in detail in the following review. This review will also provide an impetus to study the role of microRNAs in breast cancer.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (4) ◽  
pp. E469-E474
Author(s):  
J. P. Kile ◽  
M. S. Amoss

It has been proposed that gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulates Ca2+ entry by activation of voltage-independent, receptor-mediated Ca2+ channels in the rat gonadotroph. Little work has been done on the role of calcium in GnRH-induced luteinizing hormone (LH) release in species other than the rat. Therefore, this study was done to compare the effects of agents that alter Ca2+ or Na+ entry on LH release from calf anterior pituitary primary cells in culture. GnRH (100 ng/ml), Ca2+ ionophore A23187 (2.5 microM), and the depolarizing agent ouabain (0.1-10 microM) all produced significant increases (P less than 0.05) in LH release; these effects were significantly reduced when the cells were preincubated with the organic Ca2+ channel blockers nifedipine (1-10 microM) and verapamil (1-10 microM) and with Co2+ (0.01-1 mM). The effect of ouabain was inhibited by tetrodotoxin (TTX; 1-10 nM) as well as by nifedipine at 0.1-10 microM. In contrast to its effect on rat pituitary LH release, TTX significantly inhibited GnRH-stimulated LH release at 1-100 nM. These results suggest that GnRH-induced LH release may employ Ca2+ as a second messenger in bovine gonadotrophs and support recent speculation that GnRH-induced Ca2+ mobilization may in part be voltage dependent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Ata Saei ◽  
Christian M. Beusch ◽  
Pierre Sabatier ◽  
Juan Astorga Wells ◽  
Hassan Gharibi ◽  
...  

AbstractDespite the immense importance of enzyme–substrate reactions, there is a lack of general and unbiased tools for identifying and prioritizing substrate proteins that are modified by the enzyme on the structural level. Here we describe a high-throughput unbiased proteomics method called System-wide Identification and prioritization of Enzyme Substrates by Thermal Analysis (SIESTA). The approach assumes that the enzymatic post-translational modification of substrate proteins is likely to change their thermal stability. In our proof-of-concept studies, SIESTA successfully identifies several known and novel substrate candidates for selenoprotein thioredoxin reductase 1, protein kinase B (AKT1) and poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase-10 systems. Wider application of SIESTA can enhance our understanding of the role of enzymes in homeostasis and disease, opening opportunities to investigate the effect of post-translational modifications on signal transduction and facilitate drug discovery.


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