Phosphate is not an absolute requirement for the inhibitory effects of cyclosporin A or cyclophilin D deletion on mitochondrial permeability transition.

CypD (cyclophilin D) has been established as a critical regulator of the MPT (mitochondrial permeability transition) pore, and pharmacological or genetic inhibition of CypD attenuates MPT in numerous systems. However, it has recently been suggested that the inhibitory effects of CypD inhibition only manifest when P(i) (inorganic phosphate) is present, and that inhibition is lost when P(i) is replaced by As(i) (inorganic arsenate) or V(i) (inorganic vanadate). To test this, liver mitochondria were isolated from wild-type and CypD-deficient (Ppif-/-) mice and then incubated in buffer containing P(i), As(i) or V(i). MPT was induced under both energized and de-energized conditions by the addition of Ca2+, and the resultant mitochondrial swelling was measured spectrophotometrically. For pharmacological inhibition of CypD, wild-type mitochondria were pre-incubated with CsA (cyclosporin A) before the addition of Ca2+. In energized and de-energized mitochondria, Ca2+ induced MPT regardless of the anion present, although the magnitude differed between P(i), As(i) and V(i). However, in all cases, pre-treatment with CsA significantly inhibited MPT. Moreover, these effects were independent of mouse strain, organ type and rodent species. Similarly, attenuation of Ca2+-induced MPT in the Ppif-/- mitochondria was still observed irrespective of whether P(i), As(i) or V(i) was present. We conclude that the pharmacological and genetic inhibition of CypD is still able to attenuate MPT even in the absence of P(i).

The mitochondrial protein C1qbp promotes cell proliferation, migration and resistance to cell death.

Complement 1q-Binding Protein (C1qbp) is a mitochondrial protein reported to be upregulated in cancer. However, whether C1qbp plays a tumor suppressive or tumorigenic role in the progression of cancer is controversial. Moreover, the exact effects of C1qbp on cell proliferation, migration, and death/survival have not been definitely proven. To this end, we comprehensively examined the effects of C1qbp on mitochondrial-dependent cell death, proliferation, and migration in both normal and breast cancer cells using genetic gain- and loss-of-function approaches. In normal fibroblasts, overexpression of C1qbp protected the cells against staurosporine-induce apoptosis, increased proliferation, decreased cellular ATP, and increased cell migration in a wound-healing assay. In contrast, the opposite effects were observed in fibroblasts depleted of C1qbp by RNA interference. C1qbp expression was found to be markedly elevated in 4 different human breast cancer cell lines as well as in ductal and adenocarcinoma tumors from breast cancer patients. Stable knockdown of C1qbp by shRNA in the aggressive MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line greatly reduced cell proliferation, increased ATP levels, and decreased cell migration compared to control shRNA-transfected cells. Moreover, C1qbp knockdown elicited a significant increase in doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in the MDA-MB-231 cells. Finally, C1qbp upregulation was not restricted to breast cancer cells and tumors, as levels of C1qbp were also found to be significantly elevated in both human lung and colon cancer cell lines and carcinomas. Together, these results establish a pro-tumor, rather than anti-tumor, role for C1qbp, and indicate that C1qbp could serve as a molecular target for cancer therapeutics.

Hypercholesterolemia increases mitochondrial oxidative stress and enhances the MPT response in the porcine myocardium: beneficial effects of chronic exercise.

Hypercholesterolemia has been suggested to have direct negative effects on myocardial function due to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and increased myocyte death. Mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) is a significant mediator of cell death, which is enhanced by ROS generation and attenuated by exercise training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hypercholesterolemia on the MPT response of cardiac mitochondria. We tested the hypothesis that familial hypercholesterolemic (FH) pigs would have an enhanced MPT response and that exercise training could reverse this phenotype. MPT was assessed by mitochondrial swelling in response to 10-100 µM Ca(2+). FH pigs did show an increased MPT response to Ca(2+) that was associated with decreases in the expression of the putative MPT pore components mitochondrial phosphate carrier (PiC) and cyclophilin-D (CypD). FH also caused increased oxidative stress, depicted by increased protein nitrotyrosylation, as well as decreased levels of reduced GSH in cardiac mitochondria. Expression of the mitochondrial antioxidant enzymes manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), thioredoxin-2 (Trx2), and peroxiredoxin-3 (Prx3) was greatly reduced in the FH pigs. In contrast, cytosolic catalase expression and activity were increased. However, chronic exercise training was able to normalize the MPT response in FH pigs, reduce mitochondrial oxidative stress, and return MnSOD, Trx2, Prx3, and catalase expression/activities to normal. We conclude that FH reduces mitochondrial antioxidants, increases mitochondrial oxidative stress, and enhances the MPT response in the porcine myocardium, and that exercise training can reverse these detrimental alterations.

Complement 1q-binding protein inhibits the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and protects against oxidative stress-induced death.

Opening of the MPT (mitochondrial permeability transition) pore is a critical event in mitochondrial-mediated cell death. However, with the exception of CypD (cyclophilin D), the exact molecular composition of the MPT pore remains uncertain. C1qbp (complement 1q-binding protein) has recently been hypothesized to be an essential component of the MPT pore complex. To investigate whether C1qbp indeed plays a critical role in MPT and cell death, we conducted both gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments in MEFs (mouse embryonic fibroblasts). We first confirmed that C1qbp is a soluble protein that localizes to the mitochondrial matrix in mouse cells and tissues. Similarly, overexpression of C1qbp in MEFs using an adenovirus resulted in its exclusive localization to mitochondria. To our surprise, increased C1qbp protein levels actually suppressed H2O2-induced MPT and cell death. Antithetically, knockdown of endogenous C1qbp with siRNA (small interfering RNA) sensitized the MEFs to H2O2-induced MPT and cell death. Moreover, we found that C1qbp could directly bind to CypD. Therefore C1qbp appears to act as an endogenous inhibitor of the MPT pore, most likely through binding to CypD, and thus protects cells against oxidative stress.