Open AccessIdentification of Thioredoxin-2 as a Regulator of the Mitochondrial Permeability Transition
Author(s) -
Ming He,
Jiyang Cai,
Young Mi Go,
Jennifer M. Johnson,
William Martin,
Jason M. Hansen,
Dean P. Jones
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
toxicological sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.352
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1096-6080
pISSN - 1096-0929
DOI - 10.1093/toxsci/kfn116
Subject(s) - thioredoxin , mitochondrial permeability transition pore , mitochondrion , regulator , apoptosis , oxidative stress , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , programmed cell death , oxidative phosphorylation , biochemistry , biology , gene
Thioredoxin-2 (Trx2) is a multifunctional, mitochondria-specific protein, which inhibits cell death. The mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) is a distinct mechanism for cell death activated by oxidants and linked to both necrotic and apoptotic morphologies. We studied mitochondria from Trx2 transgenic mice to determine whether Trx2 protects against oxidant-induced MPT. All experiments were performed in isolated mitochondria. Results showed that Trx2 protected against MPT induced by exogenously added peroxide. Unexpectedly, Trx2 also protected against the MPT induced by Ca(2+) in the absence of added peroxide. The results indicate that in addition to protecting against oxidative stress, Trx2 is an endogenous regulator of the MPT.