Arnaldo Videira

Involvement of p53 in cell death following cell cycle arrest and mitotic catastrophe induced by rotenone.

In order to investigate the cell death-inducing effects of rotenone, a plant extract commonly used as a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, we studied cancer cell lines with different genetic backgrounds. Rotenone inhibits cell growth through the induction of cell death and cell cycle arrest, associated with the development of mitotic catastrophe. The cell death inducer staurosporine potentiates the inhibition of cell growth by rotenone in a dose-dependent synergistic manner. The tumor suppressor p53 is involved in rotenone-induced cell death, since the drug treatment results in increased expression, phosphorylation and nuclear localization of the protein. The evaluation of the effects of rotenone on a p53-deficient cell line revealed that although not required for the promotion of mitotic catastrophe, functional p53 appears to be essential for the extensive cell death that occurs afterwards. Our results suggest that mitotic slippage also occurs subsequently to the rotenone-induced mitotic arrest and cells treated with the drug for a longer period become senescent. Treatment of mtDNA-depleted cells with rotenone induces cell death and cell cycle arrest as in cells containing wild-type mtDNA, but not formation of reactive oxygen species. This suggests that the effects of rotenone are not dependent from the production of reactive oxygen species. This work highlights the multiple effects of rotenone in cancer cells related to its action as an anti-mitotic drug.

From NADH to ubiquinone in Neurospora mitochondria

The respiratory chain of the mitochondrial inner membrane includes a proton-pumping enzyme, complex I, which catalyses electron transfer from NADH to ubiquinone. This electron pathway occurs through a series of protein-bound prosthetic groups, FMN and around eight iron-sulfur clusters. The high number of polypeptide subunits of mitochondrial complex I, around 40, have a dual genetic origin. Neurospora crassa has been a useful genetic model to characterise complex I. The characterisation of mutants in specific proteins helped to understand the elaborate processes of the biogenesis, structure and function of the oligomeric enzyme. In the fungus, complex I seems to be dispensable for vegetative growth but required for sexual development. N. crassa mitochondria also contain three to four nonproton-pumping alternative NAD(P)H dehydrogenases. One of them is located in the outer face of the inner mitochondrial membrane, working as a calcium-dependent oxidase of cytosolic NADPH.

Complex I from the fungus Neurospora crassa

Respiratory chain complex I is a complicated enzyme of mitochondria, that couples electron transfer from NADH to ubiquinone to the proton translocation across the inner membrane of the organelle. The fungus Neurospora crassa has been used as one of the main model organisms to study this enzyme. Complex I is composed of multiple polypeptide subunits of dual genetic origin and contains several prosthetic groups involved in its activity. Most subunits have been cloned and those binding redox centres have been identified. Yet, the functional role of certain complex I proteins remains unknown. Insight into the possible origin and the mechanisms of complex I assembly has been gained. Several mutant strains of N. crassa, in which specific subunits of complex I were disrupted, have been isolated and characterised. This review concerns many aspects of the structure, function and biogenesis of complex I that are being elucidated.

Supramolecular Organization of the Respiratory Chain in Neurospora crassa Mitochondria

ABSTRACT The existence of specific respiratory supercomplexes in mitochondria of most organisms has gained much momentum. However, its functional significance is still poorly understood. The availability of many deletion mutants in complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) of Neurospora crassa, distinctly affected in the assembly process, offers unique opportunities to analyze the biogenesis of respiratory supercomplexes. Herein, we describe the role of complex I in assembly of respiratory complexes and supercomplexes as suggested by blue and colorless native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analyses of mildly solubilized mitochondria from the wild type and eight deletion mutants. As an important refinement of the fungal respirasome model, we found that the standard respiratory chain of N. crassa comprises putative complex I dimers in addition to I-III-IV and III-IV supercomplexes. Three Neurospora mutants able to assemble a complete complex I, lacking only the disrupted subunit, have respiratory supercomplexes, in particular I-III-IV supercomplexes and complex I dimers, like the wild-type strain. Furthermore, we were able to detect the I-III-IV supercomplexes in the nuo51 mutant with no overall enzymatic activity, representing the first example of inactive respirasomes. In addition, III-IV supercomplexes were also present in strains lacking an assembled complex I, namely, in four membrane arm subunit mutants as well as in the peripheral arm nuo30.4 mutant. In membrane arm mutants, high-molecular-mass species of the 30.4-kDa peripheral arm subunit comigrating with III-IV supercomplexes and/or the prohibitin complex were detected. The data presented herein suggest that the biogenesis of complex I is linked with its assembly into supercomplexes.

New findings of Neurospora in Europe and comparisons of diversity in temperate climates on continental scales.

The life cycles of the conidiating species of Neurospora are adapted to respond to fire, which is reflected in their natural history. Neurospora is found commonly on burned vegetation from the tropic and subtropical regions around the world and through the temperate regions of western North America. In temperate Europe it was unknown whether Neurospora would be as common as it is in North America because it has been reported only occasionally. In 2003 and 2004 a multinational effort surveyed wildfire sites in southern Europe. Neurospora was found commonly from southern Portugal and Spain (37 degrees N) to Switzerland (46 degrees N). Species collected included N. crassa, N. discreta, N. sitophila and N. tetrasperma. The species distribution and spatial dynamics of Neurospora populations showed both similarities and differences when compared between temperate Europe and western North America, both regions of similar latitude, climate and vegetation. For example the predominant species in western North America, N. discreta phylogenetic species 4B, is common but not predominant in Europe, whereas species rare in western North America, N. crassa NcB and N. sitophila, are much more common in Europe. The meiotic drive element Spore killer was also common in European populations of N. sitophila and at a higher proportion than anywhere else in the world. The methods by which organisms spread and adapt to new environments are fundamental ecosystem properties, yet they are little understood. The differences in regional diversity, reported here, can form the basis of testable hypotheses. Questions of phylogeography and adaptations can be addressed specifically by studying Neurospora in nature.

Enolase from Streptococcus sobrinus is an immunosuppressive protein

A strategy of Streptococcus sobrinus, a major agent of dental caries, to survive and colonize the host consists of the production of a protein that suppresses the specific antibody responses. We have cloned the gene coding for a protein with immunosuppressive activity. It contains an open reading frame of 1302 base pairs encoding a polypeptide with 434 amino acid residues and a molecular mass of 46910 Da. The gene product is homologous to enolases from several organisms. The polypeptide was expressed in Escherichia coli as a hexahistidine‐tagged protein and purified in a fluoride‐sensitive enzymatically active form. Pretreatment of mice with the S. sobrinus recombinant enolase suppresses a primary immune response against T‐cell dependent antigens. This immunosuppressive effect is specific to the antigen used in the immunization, as it is not observed when the immune response against other antigens is analysed. Furthermore, the S. sobrinus recombinant enolase stimulates an early production of interleukin‐10, an anti‐inflammatory cytokine, and not the pro‐inflammatory cytokine IFN‐γ. These observations indicate that enolase acts in the suppression of the specific host immune response against S. sobrinus infection.

Primary structure and characterisation of a 64 kDa NADH dehydrogenase from the inner membrane of Neurospora crassa mitochondria

A cDNA clone encoding a mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase from Neurospora crassa was sequenced. The total DNA sequence encompasses 2570 base pairs and contains an open reading frame of 2019 base pairs coding for a precursor polypeptide of 673 amino acid residues. The protein is encoded by a single-copy gene located to the right side of the centromere in linkage group IV of the fungal genome. The N-terminus of the precursor protein has characteristics of a mitochondrial targeting pre-sequence. The protein displays homology with mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenases from yeast. In contrast to these polypeptides, however, analysis of its primary structure revealed that it contains a well-conserved calcium-binding domain. Rabbit antiserum against the protein expressed in an heterologous system recognises a mitochondrial protein of N. crassa with an apparent molecular mass of 64 kDa. Analysis of the fungal mitochondria by swelling, digitonin fractionation and alkaline treatment indicate that the protein is located in the inner membrane of the organelles, possibly facing the matrix side.

Disruption of iron-sulphur cluster N2 from NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase by site-directed mutagenesis

We have cloned and inactivated, by repeat-induced point mutations, the nuclear gene encoding the 19.3 kDa subunit of complex I (EC 1.6.5.3) from Neurospora crassa, the homologue of the bovine PSST polypeptide. Mitochondria from mutant nuo19.3 lack the peripheral arm of complex I while its membrane arm accumulates. Transformation with wild-type cDNA rescues this phenotype and assembly of complex I is restored. To interfere with assembly of a proposed bound iron-sulphur cluster, site-directed mutants were constructed by introducing cDNA with altered codons for two adjacent cysteines, Cys-101 and Cys-102. The mutant complexes were purified and their enzymic activities and EPR and UV/visible spectra were analysed. Either of the mutations abolishes assembly of iron-sulphur cluster N2, showing that this redox group is bound to the 19.3 kDa protein. We also observed an interference with the reduction of redox group X, suggesting that cluster N2 is the electron donor to this high-potential redox group.

Increased Resistance of Complex I Mutants to Phytosphingosine-induced Programmed Cell Death *□

We have studied the effects of phytosphingosine (PHS) on cells of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. Highly reduced viability, impairment of asexual spore germination, DNA condensation and fragmentation, and production of reactive oxygen species were observed in conidia treated with the drug, suggesting that PHS induces an apoptosis-like death in this fungus. Interestingly, we found that complex I mutants are more resistant to PHS treatment than the wild type strain. This effect appears to be specific because it was not observed in mutants defective in other components of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, pointing to a particular involvement of complex I in cell death. The response of the mutant strains to PHS correlated with their response to hydrogen peroxide. The fact that complex I mutants generate fewer reactive oxygen species than the wild type strain when exposed to PHS likely explains the PHS-resistant phenotype. As compared with the wild type strain, we also found that a strain containing a deletion in the gene encoding an AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor)-like protein is more resistant to PHS and H2O2. In contrast, a strain containing a deletion in a gene encoding an AMID (AIF-homologous mitochondrion-associated inducer of death)-like polypeptide is more sensitive to both drugs. These results indicate that N. crassa has the potential to be a model organism to investigate the molecular basis of programmed cell death in eukaryotic species.

Primary structure and expression of a nuclear-coded subunit of complex I homologous to proteins specified by the chloroplast genome

A 31-kDa subunit of complex I from Neurospora crassa, of nuclear origin, was cloned. The precursor polypeptide (33 kDa) could be efficiently expressed in an in vitro system for transcription and translation. The processing of the precursor to the mature protein was also obtained in vitro. An open reading frame coding for a precursor protein of 283 amino acids (32247 Da) was found by DNA sequencing. The predicted primary structure shows significant homology with proteins made in chloroplast. This supports the hypothesis that an enzyme similar to respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase might exist in these organelles.