Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Alterations in Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore (mPTP) Contribute to Apoptosis Resistance in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Fibroblasts.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating disease characterized by increased activation of fibroblasts/myofibroblasts. Previous reports have shown that IPF fibroblasts are resistant to apoptosis, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Since inhibition of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) has been implicated in the resistance to apoptosis, in this study, we analyzed the role of mitochondrial function and the mPTP on the apoptosis resistance of IPF fibroblasts under basal conditions and after mitomycin C-induced apoptosis. We measured the release of cytochrome c, mPTP opening, mitochondrial calcium release, oxygen consumption, mitochondrial membrane potential, ADP/ATP ratio, ATP concentration, and mitochondrial morphology. We found that IPF fibroblasts were resistant to mitomycin C-induced apoptosis and that calcium, a well-established activator of mPTP, is decreased as well as the release of pro-apoptotic proteins such as cytochrome c. Likewise, IPF fibroblasts showed decreased mitochondrial function, while mPTP was less sensitive to ionomycin-induced opening. Although IPF fibroblasts did not present changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential, we found a fragmented mitochondrial network with scarce, thinned, and disordered mitochondria with reduced ATP levels. Our findings demonstrate that IPF fibroblasts are resistant to mitomycin C-induced apoptosis and that altered mPTP opening contributes to this resistance. In addition, IPF fibroblasts show mitochondrial dysfunction evidenced by a decrease in respiratory parameters.

The cytochrome b carboxyl terminal region is necessary for mitochondrial complex III assembly.

Mitochondrial bc 1 complex from yeast has 10 subunits, but only cytochrome b (Cytb) subunit is encoded in the mitochondrial genome. Cytb has eight transmembrane helices containing two hemes b for electron transfer. Cbp3 and Cbp6 assist Cytb synthesis, and together with Cbp4 induce Cytb hemylation. Subunits Qcr7/Qcr8 participate in the first steps of assembly, and lack of Qcr7 reduces Cytb synthesis through an assembly-feedback mechanism involving Cbp3/Cbp6. Because Qcr7 resides near the Cytb carboxyl region, we wondered whether this region is important for Cytb synthesis/assembly. Although deletion of the Cytb C-region did not abrogate Cytb synthesis, the assembly-feedback regulation was lost, so Cytb synthesis was normal even if Qcr7 was missing. Mutants lacking the Cytb C-terminus were non-respiratory because of the absence of fully assembled bc 1 complex. By performing complexome profiling, we showed the existence of aberrant early-stage subassemblies in the mutant. In this work, we demonstrate that the C-terminal region of Cytb is critical for regulation of Cytb synthesis and bc 1 complex assembly.

Inhibition of the nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway limited the cardioprotective effect of post-conditioning in hearts with apical myocardial infarction.

Reperfusion damage involves opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) and loss of ATP synthesis. Several cardioprotective pathways are activated by ischemic or pharmacological post-conditioning (PC). The mechanisms that are activated by PC in no co-morbidity murine models include: activation of rescue kinases, oxidative stress reduction, glycolytic flux regulation and preservation of ATP synthesis. However, relatively scarce efforts have been made to define whether the efficacy of PC signaling is blunted by risk factors or systemic diseases associated with ischemic heart pathology. Experimental evidence has shown that the nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling is a main mechanism activated by PC in hearts without pathological history. In this work we evaluated the participation of the NO pathway, through downstream kinase activation and inhibition of mPTP in hearts with previous infarct. Myocardial infarction was induced with a single dose of isoproterenol (85 mg/kg i.p.) to male Wistar rats. After 24 h, the hearts were mounted into the Langendorff system and subjected to 30 min of ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion. PC consisted of 5 cycles of 30 s of reperfusion/30 s of ischemia, then the hearts were reperfused with or without inhibitors of the NO/cGMP pathway. PC activates the NO/cGMP pathway, as increased cGMP and NO levels were detected in isoproterenol-treated hearts. The cardioprotective effect of PC was abolished with both L-NAME (inhibitor of constitutive NO synthase) and ODQ (inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase), whereas the NO donor (DETA-NO) restored cardioprotection even in the presence of L-NAME or ODQ. We also found that mitochondrial structure and function was preserved in PC hearts. We conclude that PC exerts cardioprotection in hearts with previous infarct by maintaining mitochondrial structure and function through NO-dependent pathway.