线粒体呼吸链膜蛋白复合物Ⅱ的三维结构解析

线粒体作为细胞器,是细胞内的动力工厂,是细胞发生有氧呼吸作用的主要场所,它的功能是通过氧化磷酸化进行能量转换,为细胞活动提供能量。其中,氧化过程由线粒体内膜上的4个呼吸链膜蛋白复合物(简称复合物Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ和Ⅳ)来完成。近20年来,解析这4个膜蛋白复合物的结构一直是生物学研究的热点。     

线粒体呼吸链功能调控机制的研究进展

核基因组与线粒体基因组的相互作用,以及两基因组在调控呼吸链亚基的表达机制方面一直处于探索阶段,线粒体核转录因子的发现,使细胞核调控呼吸链亚基表达的研究得到了很大的发展。本文就近年来对核呼吸因子和细胞核对呼吸链的调控机制研究作一介绍。     

线粒体基因表达的调控及其与某些疾病的关系

线粒体除作为细胞生成能量的场所,其基因组还编码参与线粒体氧化呼吸链组成的13条多肽链,22种tRNA分子和2种rRNA分子。线粒体基因表达受众多因素调控,其表达异常可影响细胞对氧的利用,与一系列病理生理过程密切相关。该文介绍近年来线粒体基因表达调控,及肿瘤等疾病过程中线粒体基因表达变化的研究进展。     

线粒体电子传递系统的组装及其生物学意义

电子传递链亦称呼吸链,由位于线粒体内膜的I、II、III、IV 4种复合物组成,负责电子传递和产生质子梯度。电子主要从复合物I进入电子传递链,经复合物III传递至复合物IV。电子传递系统的组装是一个十分复杂的过程,目前已知主要有约69个结构亚基以及至少16个组装因子参与了人类复合物I、III、IV的组装,这些蛋白质由核基因组与线粒体基因组共同编码。对线粒体电子传递系统的蛋白质组成及其结构已研究得较为清楚,但对它们的组装了解得还比较初步。许多人类线粒体疾病是由于电子传递系统的功能障碍引起的,其中又有许多是由于该系统中一个或多个部件的错误组装引起的。研究这些缺陷不仅能够加深对线粒体疾病发病机理的了解,也有助于揭示线粒体功能的调控机制。将着重对电子传递系统复合物的组装及其与人类疾病关系的研究进展进行综述。     

哺乳动物核呼吸因子研究进展

核呼吸因子(NRFs)包括核呼吸因子1(NRF-1)和核呼吸因子2(NRF-2),是DNA转录调节因子,调节细胞核基因组编码的呼吸链亚基和与线粒体复制、转录过程中有关的组分,如线粒体转录因子A、线粒体RNA核酸加工内切酶以及血红素合成限速酶等的表达。NRFs在协调线粒体与细胞核两基因组的表达中起重要作用,并与细胞的生长、增殖及染色体的维护等密切相关。     

慢性间断低氧暴露对大鼠心肌线粒体ATP酶及吸链酶复合物的影响

目的:研究慢性间断低氧暴露对大鼠心肌线粒体Na 、K -ATPase和Ca2 、Mg2 -ATPase以及呼吸链酶复合物Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ活性的影响.方法:经慢性间断低氧暴露(模拟海拔3 000 m、5 000 m分别低氧,每天4 h,共2周,最后8 000 m低氧4 h)和急性低氧(模拟海拔8 000 m低氧4 h)的大鼠,断头处死,迅速取出心脏,分离心肌线粒体,用水解磷酸根法测定ATP酶活性,用Clark氧电极法测定呼吸链酶复合物的活性.结果:①慢性间断低氧暴露对大鼠心肌线粒体Na 、K -ATPase的活性无明显影响.②急性低氧大鼠心肌线粒体Ca2 、Mg2 -ATPase的活性较正常大鼠显著降低,而慢性间断低氧暴露大鼠心肌线粒体Ca2 、Mg2 -ATPase的活性则明显升高,接近正常水平.③急性低氧大鼠心肌线粒体呼吸链酶复合物I(NADH-CoQ还原酶)、复合物Ⅱ(琥珀酸-CoQ还原酶)、复合物IV(细胞色素氧化酶)活性较正常大鼠显著降低,而经慢性间断低氧暴露后,三者的活性均显著提高.相同实验条件下,低氧对复合物Ⅲ(CoQ-细胞色素C还原酶)活性无明显影响.结论:慢性间断低氧暴露可以显著提高心肌线粒体Ca2 、Mg2 -ATPase和呼吸链酶复合物Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅳ的活性,从而改善低氧时心肌线粒体呼吸链的功能,维持心肌正常能量代谢,最终提高心肌收缩和舒张功能.     

线粒体核糖体蛋白质与人类恶性肿瘤

线粒体拥有自身独特的核糖体--线粒体核糖体,用于翻译线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA）编码的基因。线粒体核糖体由核基因编码的线粒体核糖体蛋白质(mitochondrial ribosomal protein, MRPs)和线粒体自身编码的rRNA组装而成。MRPs表达失调会引发代谢紊乱、呼吸链受损,导致细胞发生功能障碍和异常增殖,甚至发生癌变等恶性转化。大量研究证明,MRPs在不同的肿瘤细胞中表达异常,提示着MRPs在肿瘤发生发展过程中发挥着重要作用。本文就线粒体核糖体蛋白质与人类恶性肿瘤发生的关系作一综述,为进一步阐明其在恶性肿瘤发生过程中的作用机制奠定基础。     

OPA1的研究进展

OPA1（Optic Atrophy 1）基因属于核基因,编码的蛋白是线粒体内源发动蛋白,是线粒体塑形蛋白家族的成员。OPA1蛋白通过不同位点的剪接,形成多种亚型,参与线粒体内膜融合,对线粒体形态结构有着重要的作用。OPA1与呼吸作用复合物直接相关,作为呼吸链的一部分,保持呼吸链的完整性,参与呼吸作用和能量代谢;在细胞凋亡过程中则以OPA1-PARL复合体的形式发挥抗凋亡因子的作用。研究显示,OPA1在类固醇物质的生成等方面,也有着不可替代的作用。OPA1对多种疾病有影响,是显性视神经萎缩症（Dominant Optic Atrophy,DOA）的主要基因座,OPA1突变不仅会导致视觉疾病,也能引起听觉神经病变.OPA1还参与热休克应答,在抗癌药毒性抑制方面也有重要作用。本文着重于介绍OPA1的结构与功能,及其在疾病中的作用。     

Depletion of NBR1 in urothelial carcinoma cells enhances rapamycin-induced apoptosis through impaired autophagy and mitochondrial dysfunction

Rapamycin is well-recognized in the clinical therapeutic intervention for patients with cancer by specifically targeting mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase. Rapamycin regulates general autophagy to clear damaged cells. Previously, we identified increased expression of messenger RNA levels of NBR1 (the neighbor of BRCA1 gene; autophagy cargo receptor) in human urothelial cancer (URCa) cells, which were not exhibited in response to rapamycin treatment for cell growth inhibition. Autophagy plays an important role in cellular physiology and offers protection against chemotherapeutic agents as an adaptive response required for maintaining cellular energy. Here, we hypothesized that loss of NBR1 sensitizes human URCa cells to growth inhibition induced by rapamycin treatment, leading to interruption of protective autophagic activation. Also, the potential role of mitochondria in regulating autophagy was tested to clarify the mechanism by which rapamycin induces apoptosis in NBR1-knockdown URCa cells. NBR1-knockdown URCa cells exhibited enhanced sensitivity to rapamycin associated with the suppression of autophagosomal elongation and mitochondrial defects. Loss of NBR1 expression altered the cellular responses to rapamycin treatment, resulting in impaired ATP homeostasis and an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although rapamycin treatment-induced autophagy by adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in NBR1-knockdown cells, it did not process the conjugated form of LC3B-II after activation by unc-51 like autophagy-activating kinase 1 (ULK1). NBR1-knockdown URCa cells exhibited rather profound mitochondrial dysfunctions in response to rapamycin treatment as evidenced by Δψm collapse, ATP depletion, ROS accumulation, and apoptosis activation. Therefore, our findings provide a rationale for rapamycin treatment of NBR1-knockdown human urothelial cancer through the regulation of autophagy and mitochondrial dysfunction by regulating the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway, indicating that NBR1 can be a potential therapeutic target of human urothelial cancer.     

Rapamycin enhances growth inhibition on urothelial carcinoma cells through LKB1 deficiency-mediated mitochondrial dysregulation

Rapamycin, a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, has significant potential for application in the treatment of urothelial carcinoma (URCa) of the bladder. Previous studies have shown that regulation of the AMP-activated serine/threonine protein kinase (AMPK)–mTOR signaling pathway enhances apoptosis by inducing autophagy or mitophagy in bladder cancer. Alteration of liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-AMPK signaling leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and the accumulation of autophagy-related proteins as a result of mitophagy, resulting in enhanced cell sensitivity to drug treatments. Therefore, we hypothesized that LKB1 deficiency in URCa cells could lead to increased sensitivity to rapamycin by inducing mitochondrial defect-mediated mitophagy. To test this, we established stable LKBI-knockdown URCa cells and analyzed the effects of rapamycin on their growth. Rapamycin enhanced growth inhibition and apoptosis in stable LKB1-knockdown URCa cells and in a xenograft mouse model. In spite of the stable downregulation of LKB1 expression, rapamycin induced AMPK activation in URCa cells, causing loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP depletion, and ROS accumulation, indicating an alteration of mitochondrial biogenesis. Our findings suggest that the absence of LKB1 can be targeted to induce dysregulated mitochondrial biogenesis by rapamycin treatment in the design of novel therapeutic strategies for bladder cancer.     

Involvement of de novo synthesized palmitate and mitochondrial EGFR in EGF induced mitochondrial fusion of cancer cells

Increased expressions of fatty acid synthase (FASN) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are common in cancer cells. De novo synthesis of palmitate by FASN is critical for the survival of cancer cells via mechanisms independent of its role as an energy substrate. Besides the plasma membrane and the nucleus, EGFR can also localize at the mitochondria; however, signals that can activate mitochondrial EGFR (mtEGFR) and the functions of mtEGFR of cancer cells remain unknown. The present study characterizes mtEGFR in the mitochondria of cancer cells (prostate and breast) and reveals that mtEGFR can promote mitochondrial fusion through increasing the protein levels of fusion proteins PHB2 and OPA1. Activation of plasma membranous EGFR (pmEGFR) stimulates the de novo synthesis of palmitate through activation of FASN and ATP-citrate lyase (ACLy). In vitro kinase assay with isolated mitochondria shows that palmitate can activate mtEGFR. Inhibition of FASN blocks the mtEGFR phosphorylation and palmitoylation induced by EGF. Mutational studies show that the cysteine 797 is important for mtEGFR activation and palmitoylation. Inhibition of FASN can block EGF induced mitochondrial fusion and increased the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In conclusion, these results suggest that mtEGFR can be activated by pmEGFR through de novo synthesized palmitate to promote mitochondrial fusion and survival of cancer cells. This mechanism may serve as a novel target to improve EGFR-based cancer therapy.     

Expression of the primary biliary cirrhosis antigens in yeast: Aspects of mitochondrial control

The mitochondria of 21 yeast strains were tested for the expression of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) specific antigens. The amounts of the antigens in the mitochondrial preparations varied with the strains. Genetic analysis of the strain differences in antigen expression indicated nuclear control which was complex. Those strains expressing the least amounts of antigens exhibited coagulating mitochondria in organellar preparations. Additional evidence relating expression of antigens to the physiological/structural state of mitochondria was that cells grown in the presence of the mitochondrial uncoupling agent, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), failed to produce any antigens, and that glucose repression of mitochondria suppressed antigen expression. Blockage of mitochondrial protein synthesis either throughpetite mutation or by culture in the presence of erythromycin decreased the content of antigens in the mitochondria but did not competely block antigen production. The presence of the PBC antigen in the mitochondria of these cells with nonfunctional mitochondrial synthesizing machinery further indicates that these antigens are cytoplasmically synthesized. Analysis of the pre- and postmitochondrial fractions of all homogenates confirmed that the antigens are not only cytoplasmically synthesized but also have an extramitochondrial location in cells, probably in the plasma membrane.     

The role of c-FLIP splice variants in urothelial tumours

Deregulation of apoptosis is common in cancer and is often caused by overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins in tumour cells. One important regulator of apoptosis is the cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP), which is overexpressed, for example, in melanoma and Hodgkin''s lymphoma cells. Here, we addressed the question whether deregulated c-FLIP expression in urothelial carcinoma impinges on the ability of death ligands to induce apoptosis. In particular, we investigated the role of the c-FLIP splice variants c-FLIP_long (c-FLIP_L) and c-FLIP_short (c-FLIP_S), which can have opposing functions. We observed diminished expression of the c-FLIP_L isoform in urothelial carcinoma tissues as well as in established carcinoma cell lines compared with normal urothelial tissues and cells, whereas c-FLIP_S was unchanged. Overexpression and RNA interference studies in urothelial cell lines nevertheless demonstrated that c-FLIP remained a crucial factor conferring resistance towards induction of apoptosis by death ligands CD95L and TRAIL. Isoform-specific RNA interference showed c-FLIP_L to be of particular importance. Thus, urothelial carcinoma cells appear to fine-tune c-FLIP expression to a level sufficient for protection against activation of apoptosis by the extrinsic pathway. Therefore, targeting c-FLIP, and especially the c-FLIP_L isoform, may facilitate apoptosis-based therapies of bladder cancer in otherwise resistant tumours.     

Proline-Rich Tyrosine Kinase 2 (Pyk2) Regulates IGF-I-Induced Cell Motility and Invasion of Urothelial Carcinoma Cells

The insulin-like growth factor receptor I (IGF-IR) plays an essential role in transformation by promoting cell growth and protecting cancer cells from apoptosis. We have recently demonstrated that the IGF-IR is overexpressed in invasive bladder cancer tissues and promotes motility and invasion of urothelial carcinoma cells. These effects require IGF-I-induced Akt- and MAPK-dependent activation of paxillin. The latter co-localizes with focal adhesion kinases (FAK) at dynamic focal adhesions and is critical for promoting motility of urothelial cancer cells. FAK and its homolog Proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) modulate paxillin activation; however, their role in regulating IGF-IR-dependent signaling and motility in bladder cancer has not been established. In this study we demonstrate that FAK was not required for IGF-IR-dependent signaling and motility of invasive urothelial carcinoma cells. On the contrary, Pyk2, which was strongly activated by IGF-I, was critical for IGF-IR-dependent motility and invasion and regulated IGF-I-dependent activation of the Akt and MAPK pathways. Using immunofluorescence and AQUA analysis we further discovered that Pyk2 was overexpressed in bladder cancer tissues as compared to normal tissue controls. Significantly, in urothelial carcinoma tissues there was increased Pyk2 localization in the nuclei as compared to normal tissue controls. These results provide the first evidence of a specific Pyk2 activity in regulating IGF-IR-dependent motility and invasion of bladder cancer cells suggesting that Pyk2 and the IGF-IR may play a critical role in the invasive phenotype in urothelial neoplasia. In addition, Pyk2 and the IGF-IR may serve as novel biomarkers with diagnostic and prognostic significance in bladder cancer.