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Temporal dissection of Bax‐induced events leading to fission of the single mitochondrion in Trypanosoma brucei
Author(s) -
Esseiva Anne Crausaz,
Chanez AnneLaure,
BochudAllemann Natacha,
Martinou JeanClaude,
Hemphill Andrew,
Schneider André
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/sj.embor.7400095
Subject(s) - trypanosoma brucei , mitochondrion , mitochondrial fission , intermembrane space , biology , mitochondrial apoptosis induced channel , microbiology and biotechnology , cytochrome c , mitochondrial intermembrane space , biochemistry , gene , bacterial outer membrane , escherichia coli
The protozoan Trypanosoma brucei has a single mitochondrion and lacks an apoptotic machinery. Here we show that expression of the proapoptotic protein Bax in T. brucei causes the release of cytochrome c , the depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial fission. However, in contrast to mammalian cells, the three events are temporally well separated. The release of cytochrome c from the intermembrane space precedes mitochondrial fission, showing that it does not depend on mitochondrial fragmentation. Furthermore, halting Bax expression allows some cells to recover even after mitochondrial fission, the last recorded event, went to completion, indicating that all three Bax‐induced events are, in principle, reversible.