Christiane Levrat

Palmitic and Stearic Acids Bind Ca2+ with High Affinity and Form Nonspecific Channels in Black-Lipid Membranes. Possible Relation to Ca2+-Activated Mitochondrial Pores

A mitochondrial hydrophobic component that forms Ca2+-induced nonspecific ion channels in black-lipid membranes (Mironova et al., 1997) has been purified and its nature elucidated. It consists of long-chain saturated fatty acids—mainly palmitic and stearic. These fatty acids, similar to the mitochondrial hydrophobic component, bind Ca2+ with high affinity in comparison with unsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids with shorter aliphatic chains, phospholipids, and other lipids. Ca2+-binding is inhibited by Mg2+ but not by K+. For palmitic acid, the Kd for Ca2+ was 5 μM at pH 8.5 and 15 μM at pH 7.5, with the Bmax of 0.48 ± 0.08 mmol/g. This corresponds to one Ca2+ ion for eight palmitic acid molecules. The data of IR spectroscopy confirm that Ca2+ does not form ionic bonds with palmitic and stearic acids under hydrophobic conditions. It has been found that in the presence of Ca2+, palmitic and stearic acids, but not unsaturated FFA induce a nonspecific permeability in black-lipid membranes. Addition of Ca2+ in order to induce the permeability transition, increases the extractable amount of palmitic and stearic acids, the effect being prevented by a phospholipase A2 inhibitor. The possible involvement of palmitic and stearic acids in the mitochondrial nonspecific permeability is discussed.

Calcium-Binding Properties of the Mitochondrial Channel-Forming Hydrophobic Component

A hydrophobic, low-molecular weight component extracted from mitochondria forms aCa2+-activated ion channel in black-lipid membranes (Mironova et al., 1997). At pH 8.3–8.5, thecomponent has a high-affinity binding site for Ca2+ with a Kd of 8 × 10−6 M, while at pH7.5 this Kd was decreased to 9 × 10−5 M. Bmax for the Ca2+-binding site did not changesignificantly with pH. In the range studied, 0.2 ± 0.06 mmol Ca2+/g component were boundor one calcium ion to eight molecules of the component. The Ca2+ binding was stronglydecreased by 50–100 mM Na+, but not by K+. Treatment of mitochondria withCaCl2 priorto ethanolic extraction resulted in a high level of Ca2+-binding capacity of the partially purifiedcomponent. Cyclosporin A, a specific inhibitor of the mitochondrial permeability transition,when added to the mitochondrial suspension, decreased the Ca2+-binding activity of thepurified extract severalfold. The calcium-binding capability of the partially purified componentcorrelates with its calcium-channel activity. This indicates that the channel-forming componentmight be involved in the permeability transition that stimulates its formation.

Dual localization of the mitochondrial phospholipase A2: outer membrane contact sites and inner membrane

Mitochondria were fractionated according to a procedure which allowed to get free outer and inner membrane plus two distinct contact sites between the two membranes. The data indicate that phospholipase A2 is localized in outer membrane contact sites and in inner membrane. The enzyme activity is twice higher in the contact site fraction than in the free membrane. The major fatty acids released are linoleic and docosahexanoic acids.

Comparative study of the N-glycoprotein synthesis through dolichol intermediates in mitochondria, Golgi apparatus-rich fraction and endoplasmic reticulum-rich fraction.

1. Glycosylation of endogenous dolichol acceptors was higher in mitochondria than in C 30,000 g (Golgi apparatus-rich fraction) and C 100,000 g (endoplasmic reticulum-rich fraction). 2. In mitochondria, N-glycoprotein biosynthesized were composed of high mannose type and non-fucosylated biantennary complex type while in C 30,000 g and C 100,000 g preparations, they contained biantennary complex type as tri and tetraantennary complex type oligosaccharides in both fucosylated and non-fucosylated forms.

A possible involvement of endogenous polyamines in the TNF‐α cellular sensitivity

A critical step in the cytotoxic action mechanism of tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) involves, among mitochondrial dysfunctions, an early change of the inner membrane permeability displaying the characteristics of permeability transition. Cytosolic polyamines, especially spermine, are known to inhibit it. Our results show that spermine is only detectable in the TNF‐α resistant C6 cells while N1‐acetylspermidine is present in the TNF‐α sensitive WEHI‐164 cells, and putrescine and spermidine are found in both. TNF‐α treatment does not change this distribution but only induces a quantitative alteration in TNF‐α sensitive cells. Omission of glutamine (energetic substrate) from the culture media alters neither the TNF‐α responsiveness of both cell lines nor their polyamine distributions, only their quantitative polyamine contents.