Seppet E, Gruno M, Peetsalu A, Gizatullina Z, Nguyen HP, Vielhaber S, Wussling MH, Trumbeckaite S, Arandarcikaite O, Jerzembeck D, Sonnabend M, Jegorov K, Zierz S, Striggow F, Gellerich FN.
Abstract:
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of almost all diseases. Acquired or inherited mutations of the mitochondrial genome DNA may give rise to mitochondrial diseases. Another class of disorders, in which mitochondrial impairments are initiated by extramitochondrial factors, includes neurodegenerative diseases and syndromes resulting from typical pathological processes, such as hypoxia/ischemia, inflammation, intoxications, and carcinogenesis.
Trumbeckaite S, Kincius M, Preidis A, Preidiene M, Veikutis V, Borutaite V, Gulbinas A.
Abstract:
Mildronate (3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium) propionate), which is mostly used in cardiological practice and is considered an anti-ischemic drug, was designed to inhibit carnitine biosynthesis in order to prevent accumulation of cytotoxic intermediate products of fatty acid beta-oxidation. Recently it was shown that the mitochondrial respiratory chain may also be a target for mildronate action.
Polianskyte Z, Peitsaro N, Dapkunas A, Liobikas J, Soliymani R, Lalowski M, Speer O, Seitsonen J, Butcher S, Cereghetti GM, Linder MD, Merckel M, Thompson J, Eriksson O.
Abstract:
LACTB is a mammalian active-site serine protein that has evolved from a bacterial penicillin-binding protein. Penicillin-binding proteins are involved in the metabolism of peptidoglycan, the major bacterial cell wall constituent, implying that LACTB has been endowed with novel biochemical properties during eukaryote evolution. Here we demonstrate that LACTB is localized in the mitochondrial intermembrane space, where it is polymerized into stable filaments with a length extending more than a hundred nanometers.
Gellerich FN, Gizatullina Z, Nguyen HP, Trumbeckaite S, Vielhaber S, Seppet E, Zierz S, Landwehrmeyer B, Riess O, von Hörsten S, Striggow F.
Abstract:
Huntington disease (HD) is characterized by polyglutamine expansions of huntingtin (htt), but the underlying pathomechanisms have remained unclear. We studied brain mitochondria of transgenic HD rats with 51 glutamine repeats (htt(51Q)), modeling the adult form of HD. Ca(free)(2+) up to 2 mum activated state 3 respiration of wild type mitochondria with glutamate/malate or pyruvate/malate as substrates. Ca(free)(2+) above 2 mum inhibited respiration via cyclosporin A-dependent permeability transition (PT).
Peitsaro N, Polianskyte Z, Tuimala J, Porn-Ares I, Liobikas J, Speer O, Lindholm D, Thompson J, Eriksson O
Abstract:
Background: Bacterial penicillin-binding proteins and β-lactamases (PBP-βLs) constitute a large family of serine proteases that perform essential functions in the synthesis and maintenance of peptidoglycan. Intriguingly, genes encoding PBP-βL homologs occur in many metazoan genomes including humans. The emerging role of LACTB, a mammalian mitochondrial PBP-βL homolog, in metabolic signaling prompted us to investigate the evolutionary history of metazoan PBP-βL proteins.
