cytochrome-c-t and Atrophy

In spite of opposing changes in rates of adenosine triphosphate turnover, hypertrophy and atrophy of the heart are accompanied by the same changes in gene expression, resembling a fetal genotype. Fetal hearts are characterized by increased ischemia tolerance. We assessed respiratory capacity of mitochondrial subpopulations from unloaded and pressure-overloaded hearts before and after 15 minutes of normothermic ischemia. Unloading was achieved by heterotopic rat heart transplantation and overloading by aortic banding. Respiratory chain gene expression (NADH dehydrogenase, cytochrome c oxidase [COX]) were analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM) and interfibrillar mitochondria (IFM) were isolated by differential centrifugation. Citrate synthase was used as mitochondrial marker enzyme. Adenosine diphosphate-stimulated oxygen consumption (state 3) was measured with a Clark-type electrode. Unloading resulted in atrophy, overloading in hypertrophy. State 3 was reduced in atrophied hearts both in SSM and IFM (SSM: 204 +/- 79 vs 804 +/- 147 natoms oxygen min(-1) mL(-1), P < .001; IFM: 468 +/- 158 vs 1141 +/- 296 natoms oxygen min(-1) mL(-1), P < .05), but was unchanged in hypertrophied hearts. NADH dehydrogenase and COX expression was also decreased with atrophy and was unchanged with hypertrophy. Ischemia caused decreased recovery of citrate synthase in isolates of SSM (P < .05) but not of IFM. State 3 in control hearts was reduced in IFM (-41%, P < .01) and SSM (-19%, not significant). This ischemia-induced decrease was less pronounced in SSM (-2%) and IFM (-22%) of atrophied and IFM (-23%) of hypertrophied hearts. Subsarcolemmal mitochondria of hypertrophied hearts displayed the greatest ischemia-induced decrease of state 3 (-32%, P < .05). In conclusion, (1) long-term changes in workload differentially affect maximal respiratory capacity and ischemia tolerance of isolated mitochondria. The changes are not parallel to the changes in energy requirements. (2) Mitochondria of atrophied hearts appear to be more resistant against ischemia than controls.

Topics: Adenosine Diphosphate; Animals; Atrophy; Body Weight; Cardiomegaly; Citrate (si)-Synthase; Cytochromes c; Electron Transport; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Heart Diseases; In Vitro Techniques; Male; Mitochondria, Heart; Muscle Proteins; Myocardial Ischemia; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury; NADH Dehydrogenase; Organ Size; Oxygen Consumption; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

The mechanisms accounting for the atrophy of the portal blood-deprived liver lobes after portal branch ligation (PBL) are still unclear. The first aim of this study was to confirm the role of apoptosis in this process and to determine which apoptotic pathways are involved. The second aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of blocking compensatory hyperplasia of the nonligated lobes with retrorsine on the mechanisms of apoptosis in the ligated lobes. Mitochondrial Bax, Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L), cytosolic cytochrome c, caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities and TNF-alpha levels were assessed in the liver of rats before and at various time points, ranging from 30 min to 7 days, after PBL. Caspase activities were also measured in rats pretreated with retrorsine. Both the mitochondrial and the death receptor-mediated pathways are activated in the ligated liver lobes after portal branch ligation. Caspase activation is inhibited by retrorsine pretreatment, resulting in fewer apoptotic bodies. Apoptosis accounts for the atrophy of the ligated lobes after PBL. It is inhibited by retrorsine, suggesting an attempt to reduce the loss of liver mass when hyperplasia of the nonligated lobes is impaired

Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; Atrophy; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; bcl-X Protein; Caspase 3; Caspase 8; Caspase 9; Caspases; Cytochromes c; Hyperplasia; Ligation; Liver; Male; Organ Size; Portal Vein; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Differentiating male germ cells express a testis-specific form of cytochrome c (Cyt c(T)) that is distinct from the cytochrome c expressed in somatic cells (Cyt c(S)). To examine the role of Cyt c(T) in germ cells, we generated mice null for Cyt c(T). Homozygous Cyt c(T)(-/-) pups were statistically underrepresented (21%) but developed normally and were fertile. However, spermatozoa isolated from the cauda epididymis of Cyt c(T)-null animals were less effective in fertilizing oocytes in vitro and contain reduced levels of ATP compared to wild-type sperm. Sperm from Cyt c(T)-null mice contained a greater number of immotile spermatozoa than did samples from control mice, i.e., 53.1% +/- 13.7% versus 33.2% +/- 10.3% (P < 0.0001) for vas deferens sperm and 40.1% +/- 9.6% versus 33.2% +/- 7.5% (P = 0.0104) for epididymal sperm. Cyt c(T)-null mice often exhibit early atrophy of the testes after 4 months of age, losing germ cells as a result of increased apoptosis. However, no difference in the activation of caspase-3, -8, or -9 was detected between the Cyt c(T)(-/-) testes and controls. Our data indicate that the Cyt c(T)-null testes undergo early atrophy equivalent to that which occurs during aging as a consequence of a reduction in oxidative phosphorylation.

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphate; Animals; Apoptosis; Atrophy; Caspases; Cytochrome c Group; Cytochromes c; Fertility; Fertilization; Glycolysis; Homozygote; Male; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Molecular Sequence Data; Organ Size; Organ Specificity; Oxidative Phosphorylation; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sperm Motility; Spermatozoa; Testicular Diseases; Testis