Biochemical and genetic analysis of the mitochondrial response of yeast to BAX and BCL-X(L).

The BCL-2 family includes both proapoptotic (e.g., BAX and BAK) and antiapoptotic (e.g., BCL-2 and BCL-X(L)) molecules. The cell death-regulating activity of BCL-2 members appears to depend on their ability to modulate mitochondrial function, which may include regulation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PTP). We examined the function of BAX and BCL-X(L) using genetic and biochemical approaches in budding yeast because studies with yeast suggest that BCL-2 family members act upon highly conserved mitochondrial components. In this study we found that in wild-type yeast, BAX induced hyperpolarization of mitochondria, production of reactive oxygen species, growth arrest, and cell death; however, cytochrome c was not released detectably despite the induction of mitochondrial dysfunction. Coexpression of BCL-X(L) prevented all BAX-mediated responses. We also assessed the function of BCL-X(L) and BAX in the same strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with deletions of selected mitochondrial proteins that have been implicated in the function of BCL-2 family members. BAX-induced growth arrest was independent of the tested mitochondrial components, including voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), the catalytic beta subunit or the delta subunit of the F(0)F(1)-ATP synthase, mitochondrial cyclophilin, cytochrome c, and proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome as revealed by [rho(0)] cells. In contrast, actual cell killing was dependent upon select mitochondrial components including the beta subunit of ATP synthase and mitochondrial genome-encoded proteins but not VDAC. The BCL-X(L) protection from either BAX-induced growth arrest or cell killing proved to be independent of mitochondrial components. Thus, BAX induces two cellular processes in yeast which can each be abrogated by BCL-X(L): cell arrest, which does not require aspects of mitochondrial biochemistry, and cell killing, which does.

DNA vector chemistry: the covalent attachment of signal peptides to plasmid DNA.

The nuclear entry of exogenous DNA in mammalian cells is critical for efficient gene transfer. A novel technique was developed for the covalent attachment of cationic peptides to double-stranded DNA using a cyclo-propapyrroloindole cross-linker. The attachment of the SV40 large T antigen nuclear localization signal peptide induced the nuclear accumulation of the conjugated DNA in digitonin-permeabilized cells via the classical pathway for the nuclear transport of karyophilic proteins. Increased nuclear uptake of the modified DNA, however, did not occur after it was microinjected into the cytoplasm of cultured cells. This demonstration that the covalent modification of DNA with a signal peptide alters its behavior and interaction with other cellular factors portends the potential of DNA vector chemistry to enhance the efficiency of cellular gene transfer.

Nuclear import of DNA in digitonin-permeabilized cells.

DNA can enter intact mammalian nuclei with varying degrees of efficiency in both transfected and microinjected cells, yet very little is known about the mechanism by which it crosses the nuclear membrane. Nucleocytoplasmic transport of fluorescently labeled DNA was studied using a digitonin-permeabilized cell system. DNA accumulated in the nucleus with a punctate staining pattern in over 80% of the permeabilized HeLa cells. Nuclear localization of the labeled DNA was energy dependent and occurred through the nuclear pore, but did not require the addition of soluble cytoplasmic protein factors necessary for protein import.