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New moonlighting functions of mitochondrial cytochrome c in the cytoplasm and nucleus
Author(s) -
GonzálezArzola Katiuska,
VelázquezCruz Alejandro,
GuerraCastellano Alejandra,
CasadoCombreras Miguel Á.,
PérezMejías Gonzalo,
DíazQuintana Antonio,
DíazMoreno Irene,
De la Rosa Miguel Á.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1002/1873-3468.13655
Subject(s) - apoptosome , microbiology and biotechnology , mitochondrion , biology , cytoplasm , cytochrome c , cytosol , chromatin , histone , dna , biochemistry , programmed cell death , apoptosis , caspase , enzyme
Cytochrome c (C c ) is a protein that functions as an electron carrier in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. However, C c has moonlighting roles outside mitochondria driving the transition of apoptotic cells from life to death. When living cells are damaged, C c escapes its natural mitochondrial environment and, once in the cytosol, it binds other proteins to form a complex named the apoptosome—a platform that triggers caspase activation and further leads to controlled cell dismantlement. Early released C c also binds to inositol 1,4,5‐triphosphate receptors on the ER membrane, which stimulates further massive C c release from mitochondria. Besides the well‐characterized binding proteins contributing to the proapoptotic functions of C c , many novel protein targets have been recently described. Among them, histone chaperones were identified as key partners of C c following DNA breaks, indicating that C c might modulate chromatin dynamics through competitive binding to histone chaperones. In this article, we review the ample set of recently discovered antiapoptotic proteins—involved in DNA damage, transcription, and energetic metabolism—reported to interact with C c in the cytoplasm and even the nucleus upon DNA breaks.