Apoptotic interactions of cytochrome c: redox flirting with anionic phospholipids within and outside of mitochondria.

Since the (re)discovery of cytochrome c (cyt c) in the early 1920s and subsequent detailed characterization of its structure and function in mitochondrial electron transport, it took over 70 years to realize that cyt c plays a different, not less universal role in programmed cell death, apoptosis, by interacting with several proteins and forming apoptosomes. Recently, two additional essential functions of cyt c in apoptosis have been discovered that are carried out via its interactions with anionic phospholipids: a mitochondria specific phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL), and plasma membrane phosphatidylserine (PS). Execution of apoptotic program in cells is accompanied by substantial and early mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Because antioxidant enhancements protect cells against apoptosis, ROS production was viewed not as a meaningless side effect of mitochondrial disintegration but rather playing some - as yet unidentified - role in apoptosis. This conundrum has been resolved by establishing that mitochondria contain a pool of cyt c, which interacts with CL and acts as a CL oxygenase. The oxygenase is activated during apoptosis, utilizes generated ROS and causes selective oxidation of CL. The oxidized CL is required for the release of pro-apoptotic factors from mitochondria into the cytosol. This redox mechanism of cyt c is realized earlier than its other well-recognized functions in the formation of apoptosomes and caspase activation. In the cytosol, released cyt c interacts with another anionic phospholipid, PS, and catalyzes its oxidation in a similar oxygenase reaction. Peroxidized PS facilitates its externalization essential for the recognition and clearance of apoptotic cells by macrophages. Redox catalysis of plasma membrane PS oxidation constitutes an important redox-dependent function of cyt c in apoptosis and phagocytosis. Thus, cyt c acts as an anionic phospholipid specific oxygenase activated and required for the execution of essential stages of apoptosis. This review is focused on newly discovered redox mechanisms of complexes of cyt c with anionic phospholipids and their role in apoptotic pathways in health and disease.

RNA editing of the Drosophila para Na(+) channel transcript. Evolutionary conservation and developmental regulation.

Post-transcriptional editing of pre-mRNAs through the action of dsRNA adenosine deaminases results in the modification of particular adenosine (A) residues to inosine (I), which can alter the coding potential of the modified transcripts. We describe here three sites in the para transcript, which encodes the major voltage-activated Na(+) channel polypeptide in Drosophila, where RNA editing occurs. The occurrence of RNA editing at the three sites was found to be developmentally regulated. Editing at two of these sites was also conserved across species between the D. melanogaster and D. virilis. In each case, a highly conserved region was found in the intron downstream of the editing site and this region was shown to be complementary to the region of the exonic editing site. Thus, editing at these sites would appear to involve a mechanism whereby the edited exon forms a base-paired secondary structure with the distant conserved noncoding sequences located in adjacent downstream introns, similar to the mechanism shown for A-to-I RNA editing of mammalian glutamate receptor subunits (GluRs). For the third site, neither RNA editing nor the predicted RNA secondary structures were evolutionarily conserved. Transcripts from transgenic Drosophila expressing a minimal editing site construct for this site were shown to faithfully undergo RNA editing. These results demonstrate that Na(+) channel diversity in Drosophila is increased by RNA editing via a mechanism analogous to that described for transcripts encoding mammalian GluRs.

RNA editing of a Drosophila sodium channel gene.

Extensive analysis of cDNAs from the para locus in D. melanogaster reveals posttranscriptional modifications indicative of adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing. Most of these edits occur in highly conserved regions of the Na+ channel, and they occur in distant relatives of D. melanogaster as well. Sequence comparison between species has identified putative cis-acting elements important for each RNA editing site. Double-stranded RNA secondary structures with striking similarity to known RNA editing sites were generated based on these data. In addition, the RNA editing sites appear to be developmentally regulated. We have cloned a potential RNA editase, DRED, with a high degree of homology to the mammalian RED1,2 genes. The DRED locus itself is highly regulated by transcription from alternative promoters and alternative splicings.

A-to-I pre-mRNA editing in Drosophila is primarily involved in adult nervous system function and integrity.

Specific A-to-I RNA editing, like that seen in mammals, has been reported for several Drosophila ion channel genes. Drosophila possesses a candidate editing enzyme, dADAR. Here, we describe dADAR deletion mutants that lack ADAR activity in extracts. Correspondingly, all known Drosophila site-specific RNA editing (25 sites in three ion channel transcripts) is abolished. Adults lacking dADAR are morphologically wild-type but exhibit extreme behavioral deficits including temperature-sensitive paralysis, locomotor uncoordination, and tremors which increase in severity with age. Neurodegeneration accompanies the increase in phenotypic severity. Surprisingly, dADAR mutants are not short-lived. Thus, A-to-I editing of pre-mRNAs in Drosophila acts predominantly through nervous system targets to affect adult nervous system function, integrity, and behavior.

dADAR, a Drosophila double-stranded RNA-specific adenosine deaminase is highly developmentally regulated and is itself a target for RNA editing.

We have identified a homolog of the ADAR (adenosine deaminases that act on RNA) class of RNA editases from Drosophila, dADAR. The dADAR locus has been localized to the 2B6-7 region of the X chromosome and the complete genomic sequence organization is reported here. dADAR is most homologous to the mammalian RNA editing enzyme ADAR2, the enzyme that specifically edits the Q/R site in the pre-mRNA encoding the glutamate receptor subunit GluR-B. Partially purified dADAR expressed in Pichia pastoris has robust nonspecific A-to-I deaminase activity on synthetic dsRNA substrates. Transcripts of the dADAR locus originate from two regulated promoters. In addition, alternative splicing generates at least four major dADAR isoforms that differ at their amino-termini as well as altering the spacing between their dsRNA binding motifs. dADAR is expressed in the developing nervous system, making it a candidate for the editase that acts on para voltage-gated Na+ channel transcripts in the central nervous system. Surprisingly, dADAR itself undergoes developmentally regulated RNA editing that changes a conserved residue in the catalytic domain. Taken together, these findings show that both transcription and processing of dADAR transcripts are under strict developmental control and suggest that the process of RNA editing in Drosophila is dynamically regulated.