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Effect of magnesium ions on the activity of the cytosolic NADH/cytochrome c electron transport system
Author(s) -
La Piana Gianluigi,
Gorgoglione Vincenza,
Laraspata Daniela,
Marzulli Domenico,
Lofrumento Nicola E.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the febs journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1742-4658
pISSN - 1742-464X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2008.06741.x
Subject(s) - intermembrane space , cytosol , cytochrome c , mitochondrion , magnesium , electron transport chain , biophysics , chemistry , biochemistry , membrane potential , biology , enzyme , bacterial outer membrane , organic chemistry , escherichia coli , gene
Cytochrome c (cyto‐ c ), added to isolated mitochondria, activates the oxidation of extramitochondrial NADH and the generation of a membrane potential, both linked to the activity of the cytosolic NADH/cyto‐ c electron transport pathway. The data presented in this article show that the protective effect of magnesium ions on the permeability of the mitochondrial outer membrane, supported by previously published data, correlates with the finding that, in hypotonic but not isotonic medium, magnesium promotes a differential effect on both the additional release of endogenous cyto‐ c and on the increased rate of NADH oxidation, depending on whether it is added before or after the mitochondria. At the same time, magnesium prevents or almost completely removes the binding of exogenously added cyto‐ c . We suggest that, in physiological low‐amplitude swelling, magnesium ions may have the function, together with other factors, of modulating the amount of cyto‐ c molecules transferred from the mitochondrial intermembrane space into the cytosol, required for the correct execution of the apoptotic programme and/or the activation of the NADH/cyto‐ c electron transport pathway.