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Mitochondrial membrane permeabilization: the sine qua non for cell death
Author(s) -
Armstrong Jeffrey S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.20370
Subject(s) - microbiology and biotechnology , translocase of the inner membrane , mitochondrion , intermembrane space , biology , cytosol , mitochondrial membrane transport protein , mitochondrial intermembrane space , translocase of the outer membrane , programmed cell death , inner mitochondrial membrane , mitochondrial carrier , mitochondrial permeability transition pore , inner membrane , mitochondrial apoptosis induced channel , bacterial outer membrane , apoptosis , biochemistry , enzyme , escherichia coli , gene
Mitochondria are essential for maintaining cell life but they also play a role in regulating cell death, which occurs when their membranes become permeabilized. Mitochondria possess two distinct membrane systems including an outer membrane in close communication with the cytosol and an inner membrane involved in energy transduction. Outer membrane permeabilization is regulated by Bcl‐2 family proteins, which control the release of proteins from the mitochondrial intermembrane space; these proteins then activate apoptosis. Inner membrane permeabilization is regulated by the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), which is activated by calcium and oxidative stress and leads to bioenergetic failure and necrosis. The purpose of this review is to discuss the biochemical mechanisms regulating mitochondrial membrane permeabilization; this is crucial to our understanding of the role of cell death in diseases such as cancer and the neurodegenerative diseases. BioEssays 28: 253–260, 2006. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.