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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 50, 51817-51827, December 10, 2004
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From the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0347
Received for publication, May 27, 2004 , and in revised form, September 21, 2004.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Superoxide dismutase (SOD) constitutes a primary cellular defense against oxidative stress in most organisms. There are two forms of SOD in eukaryotic cells. A manganese-containing enzyme, MnSOD, is located in the mitochondrial matrix. A copper- and zinc-containing enzyme, CuZnSOD, is more widely distributed; it has been localized in different species to the cytosol, peroxisomes, lysosomes, the nucleus, and the mitochondrial intermembrane space (713). Several diseases are associated with defects in CuZnSOD (14, 15). The best understood of these is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons and death as a result of respiratory failure. The damaging effects of CuZnSOD on motor neurons may be caused either by the production of peroxide by a toxic gain of function mutant enzyme (16, 17) or by the ability of CuZnSOD to catalyze the nitration of tyrosines on neurofilament proteins (18). Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have abnormally shaped mitochondria and a reduced rate of respiration because of damage of electron transport chain proteins (1921). To better understand the relationship(s) between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and superoxide dismutase, it would be helpful to know exactly which mitochondrial proteins are targets of oxidative damage in patients with defects in MnSOD or CuZnSOD.
In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, CuZnSOD and MnSOD are encoded by the nuclear genes SOD1 and SOD2, respectively. As in other eukaryotes, yeast MnSOD is located in the mitochondrial matrix. Yeast CuZnSOD was initially thought to reside solely in the cytosol (10) but more recently has also been found to reside in the mitochondrial intermembrane space as well (11). CuZnSOD accounts for 9095% of the total superoxide dismutase activity in S. cerevisiae. As a result, yeast strains carrying deletion mutations in SOD1 are more highly compromised than yeast strains carrying deletion mutations in SOD2. For example, sod1 mutants are more sensitive to redox-cycling drugs than sod2 mutants, have auxotrophies for lysine and methionine or cysteine, grow poorly in air and not at all under hyperoxic conditions, and have higher mutation rates compared with wild type cells (10). The viability of a sod1 or sod2 mutant is enhanced by reducing oxygen tension or by abolishing respiration in these strains (22, 23), suggesting that CuZn-SOD and/or MnSOD function to protect yeast cells from ROS generated by mitochondrial respiration. This role for these enzymes is also suggested by the finding that superoxide dismutase activity is necessary for the survival of S. cerevisiae during the stationary phase, because cells switch from fermentation-based growth to growth fueled by respiration (22, 24). Although previous studies have examined the role of yeast MnSOD or CuZnSOD in protecting stationary phase yeast cells from oxidative stress, little is known about the roles of these two enzymes in protecting cells from oxidative damage during earlier times in their growth cycle (e.g. mid-logarithmic and early stationary phase), and it is not known whether CuZnSOD and MnSOD have different or overlapping roles in protecting specific cellular components from oxidative stress. Also unclear are the relationships between the level of respiration and oxidative stress in cells in any phase of the growth cycle.
In view of the importance of MnSOD and CuZnSOD in cellular defense against oxidative stress, their location within mitochondria, and the involvement of a CuZnSOD defect in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, we sought to characterize the relative roles of both MnSOD and CuZnSOD in protecting mitochondria from protein oxidative damage. First, we assessed whether each superoxide dismutase is critical for protecting mitochondrial proteins from oxidative damage during mid-logarithmic, early, and late stationary growth and examined the relationship(s) between cellular respiration and oxidative stress during these phases of the growth cycle. Second, we identified specific mitochondrial proteins that are protected by each superoxide dismutase.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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, leu23, his3
1, trp1-289, ura3-52), EG110 (EG103 with sod2
::TRP1), EG118 (EG103 with sod1
::URA3), and EG133 (EG103 with sod1
::URA3, sod2
::TRP1) (22). The cells were grown to the appropriate growth phase at 200 rpm and 28 °C in YPD media (1% bacto-yeast extract, 2% bacto-peptone, and 2% dextrose) or synthetic complete (SC) medium with 4-fold excess of Trp, Leu, Ura, and His and 2% dextrose, as described (22, 25). The culture filled no more than 20% of the total flask volume to ensure adequate aeration. Paraquat ExperimentsThe cultures were grown to the early midlogarithmic phase. Paraquat was then added to a final concentration of 1mM, and the cultures were grown for an additional2hinthe presence of paraquat. Untreated cultures, which served as controls, were grown simultaneously. The cells were then harvested by centrifugation (4,000 x g), washed twice with ice-cold sterile, distilled water, and frozen at 20 °C.
Preparation of Whole Cell ExtractsThe cultures were harvested by centrifugation (4,000 x g) and washed twice with ice-cold sterile distilled water. The cell pellets were resuspended in RIPA buffer (0.22 M NaCl, 12.5 mM NaPO4, pH 7.0, 1.25% Nonidet P-40 (v/v), 0.125% SDS (w/v), 30 mM sodium deoxycholate) at a concentration of 1 ml/g cells. The cell suspension was then vortexed with1gof glass beads (0.250.5 mm) twice, for 1 min each time, with 1 min of cooling on ice in between each vortexing step. The supernatant was transferred to a new microcentrifuge tube, and RIPA buffer (0.3 ml) was added to the glass beads and vortexed briefly. The resulting supernatant was added to the previous aliquot, and together they were centrifuged for 5 min at 1900 x g. The pellet was discarded, and the supernatant was frozen at 20 °C or used immediately.
Isolation of Mitochondrial and Cytosolic Cell FractionsAll of the steps were performed on ice, unless otherwise noted. The cells were harvested at the appropriate growth phase, washed twice in ice-cold distilled water, and incubated in a shaking water bath at 28 °C, 100 rpm for 20 min in prespheroplast buffer (0.1 M Tris-SO4, 2.5 mM dithiothreitol, pH 9.3). The cells were then washed twice with ice-cold distilled water and resuspended in 0.5 g/ml spheroplast buffer (10 mM NaPO4, 1.35 M sorbitol, 1 mM EDTA, 2.5 mM dithiothreitol, pH 7.5) with Zymolyase 20T (Seikagaku Corp.) added to a final concentration of 3 mg/g cells. They were then incubated at 30 °C with gentle shaking (100 rpm). Spheroplasting was monitored by phase contrast microscopy and by determining the turbidity of an aliquot of cells after dilution 1:10 in 2% sodium sarcosyl. When 90% of the cells had formed spheroplasts, they were washed gently twice in post-spheroplast buffer (1.5 M sorbitol, 1mM EDTA, pH 7.0) with a homogenizing rod and then resuspended in lysis buffer (0.6 M mannitol, 2 mM EDTA, pH 7.0). Protease inhibitors (0.25 mM tosylphenylalanyl chloromethyl ketone, 0.25 mM N
-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone, 0.5 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride) were dissolved in Me2SO and added to the lysis buffer immediately prior to cell lysis. The spheroplasts were lysed for 3 s. on low speed followed by 25 s at maximum speed with a Sorvall Omnimixer (Newton, CT). This step was repeated for cells harvested in the late stationary phase. The cell debris was removed by centrifugation (1,900 x g for 5 min). The supernatant containing both the mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions was then centrifuged (12,100 x g, 10 min.) to pellet the mitochondria. The resulting supernatant, designated as the cytosolic fraction, was frozen at 80 °C. The mitochondrial pellet was washed once in 0.6 M mannitol, 2 mM EDTA, pH 7.0, and centrifuged at 1,651 x g for 5 min to pellet any remaining debris. The supernatant containing the mitochondria was then pelleted by centrifugation (23,000 x g, for 10 min), resuspended in 10 mM NaPO4, pH 7.0, to a final concentration of
510 µg/µl, and frozen at 80 °C.
Measurements of Respiration RatesOxygen consumption rates in whole cells were measured using a Strathkelvin Oxygen Meter equipped with a Clark-type oxygen electrode fitted with a polypropylene membrane. The cells were harvested by centrifugation (4,000 x g), washed twice with ice-cold sterile, distilled water, and resuspended in 40 mM NaPO4, pH 7.4, at a final concentration of 0.5 g/ml. The respiration rates were measured at 30 °C in a water-jacketed chamber in 40 mM NaPO4, pH 7.4, with 1% dextrose added as a carbon source. Cyanide-insensitive respiration was measured after the addition of 1 mM KCN. The cyanide-sensitive respiration rate was calculated as µmol oxygen consumed per min in the absence of cyanide minus µmol oxygen consumed per min in the presence of cyanide, divided by the wet mass of cells. Oxygen saturation was calculated to be 200 µmol/liter in Boulder, CO (26).
Quantitation of Carbonyl Content in Mitochondrial and Cytosolic FractionsThe protein carbonyl content was measured as described (26, 27). The nucleic acids were removed from the cytosolic fraction with streptomycin sulfate (28), and the cytosolic proteins were precipitated with 80% acetone and then resuspended in 6 M guanidinium hydrochloride, 0.5 M KPO4, pH 2.5. The cytosolic fractions from cells in late stationary phase were concentrated by dialysis in a bed of sucrose before removing nucleic acids and precipitating protein as described above. The mitochondrial fractions did not require treatment with streptomycin sulfate.
SDS-PAGE of Mitochondrial ProteinsMitochondrial proteins were diluted in an SDS loading buffer containing a final concentration of 10 mM NaPO4, pH 6.8, 2% SDS, 4% glycerol, 20 mM dithiothreitol, and 0.025% (w/v) bromphenol blue. The proteins were separated in a 10% polyacrylamide gel (10% (w/v) 32:1 acrylamide:bisacrylamide, 0.1% SDS, 0.4 M Tris, pH 8.8) with a stacking gel composed of 3.5% (w/v) 32:1 acrylamide: bisacrylamide, 0.1% (w/v) SDS, and 0.125 M Tris, pH 6.8.
Two-dimensional Gel Electrophoresis of Carbonylated ProteinsThe samples were prepared and separated by gel electrophoresis as described (27), except that 100 µg of mitochondrial protein was loaded on each 13 cm Immobiline Drystrip (Amersham Biosciences). Briefly, mitochondrial proteins were first separated using isoelectric focusing and then derivatized with DNP and separated in the second dimension on an 818% SDS-PAGE gradient gel. One set of gels was subjected to Western blotting with a primary anti-DNP antibody, as described below. A second set of replicate gels was silver-stained for protein quantitation and identification with MALDI-TOF and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. Derivatization with DNP is done after isoelectric focusing because it prevents an alteration in spot migration that may result from changes in protein charge if derivatization were done prior to isoelectric focusing (29).
Western ImmunoblottingThe proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose membranes (Amersham Biosciences) using a Semi-Phor electroblotting apparatus (Hoefer). Protein carbonyl groups were derivatized with DNPH as described earlier (26, 27). The resulting hydrazone was then detected with anti-DNP antibodies (Dako) at a dilution of 1:4000 and a secondary horseradish peroxidase-linked antibody (PerkinElmer Life Sciences) at a dilution of 1:25,000. Antibody binding was visualized with a chemiluminescent detection kit (PerkinElmer Life Sciences). The Western blots of gels from different strains were exposed to film for the exact same length of time. SOD proteins were detected with antibodies directed against Sod1p and Sod2p, which were kindly provided by Dr. Valeria Culotta.
Protein Identification by MALDI-TOF Mass SpectrometryProtein spots from two-dimensional gels were prepared for MALDI-TOF as described (27) with the following changes. For low abundance proteins, as many as 16 spots were pooled together from individual gels for analysis. In addition, the proteins were digested overnight at 37 °C with sequencing grade, modified porcine trypsin (Promega) diluted in 25 mM ammonium bicarbonate to a final concentration of 0.015 µg/ml. Slices of gels from the background were excised and prepared for MALDI-TOF at the same time as protein spots. Any contaminating peaks detected in the background were deleted from the protein data base searches.
Peptide SequencingAmino acid sequences were determined using an Applied Biosystems Pulsar MALDI-Q-TOF. The proteins were prepared as described above for MALDI-TOF, except that proteins were co-crystallized with 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid matrix (Agilent Technologies) on a stainless steel sample plate. The mass spectrometer was first calibrated with a standard of Glu-fibrinogen peptide, and then a spectra of peptide fragments was obtained for each protein. Peptides were selected for fragmentation, and the resulting spectra was searched in the NCBI nonredundant data base using Mascot (Matrix Science). A protein was considered positively identified if it was identified from at least two separate protein preparations using MALDI-TOF or from at least one preparation with MALDI-TOF and sequencing of at least one peptide.
Data Analysis and Quantification of Protein Carbonylation on Two-dimensional GelsTwo-dimensional gels and Western blots were scanned, and the resulting images were analyzed using the software Melanie 3.07 (Geneva Bioinformatics). A minimum of two replicate gels from three independent cultures (six total) were analyzed for each strain. Changes in protein level for each protein of interest were determined by quantitating spot intensity after silver staining, and changes in carbonylation level were quantitated after staining with anti-DNP antisera. Spot intensity was measured as the volume of the spot, which is a measurement of the pixel intensities integrated over the area of the spot. The percentage change in protein carbonylation was then determined in the mutant strains, relative to the wild type. The change in carbonylation of specific proteins in the mutant strains was normalized to the amount of that protein in that strain. An increase in carbonylation was considered significant if it showed a greater than 2-fold increase relative to the wild type, and this level of increase occurred in at least two of the replicate cultures (four gels total).
MiscellaneousProtein concentration was measured as described (30).
| RESULTS |
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To assess the degree of oxidative stress experienced by cells in these different phases of the culture growth cycle, we determined levels of mitochondrial and cytosolic protein carbonylation. Carbonyl groups (i.e. aldehyde or ketone groups) result from the oxidation of some amino acids (32) and serve as useful markers for metal-catalyzed protein oxidation that occurs under conditions of oxidative stress. Protein carbonyls are quantitated after derivatization with 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine. The 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine is converted to 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazone by interaction with carbonyl groups, and the DNP-protein conjugates are subjected to analysis by HPLC (33, 34). Previously, we have shown that most of the protein carbonylation of both cytosolic and mitochondrial proteins results from ROS released by mitochondrial respiration (27). From Fig. 3A, it is clear that the general levels of mitochondrial protein carbonylation for all four strains are nearly equivalent in mid-logarithmic and early stationary phases and that they increase markedly in late stationary phase cells. Interestingly, the level of mitochondrial protein carbonylation in the sod mutants is either less than, or equivalent to, the wild type strain in mid-logarithmic and early stationary phase cultures, showing that overall, mitochondrial protein oxidation does not increase in sod mutants during these phases of growth. However, the level of protein carbonylation is higher in sod1 and sod1sod2 mutants than in wild type or sod2 mutant cells during the late stationary phase. The higher level of mitochondrial protein carbonylation in sod1 and sod1sod2 mutants compared with wild type and sod2 mutants in the late stationary phase suggests that CuZnSOD is more important than MnSOD for protecting mitochondria from oxidative damage during this growth phase.
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Respiration Rates Do Not Correlate with Levels of Protein OxidationThe differences in protein carbonylation seen in the different strains used for the experiment shown in Fig. 3 may result from differences in the levels of mitochondrial respiration in these strains. To examine this possibility we measured the rates of mitochondrial respiration (cyanide-sensitive oxygen consumption) in these strains. From Fig. 4 it is clear that respiration rates increase dramatically in all strains between the mid-logarithmic and early stationary phases and then decline dramatically between the early and late stationary phases. The increase in respiration rates between the mid-logarithmic and early stationary phase cultures is a result of the depletion of glucose, and the subsequent derepression of respiratory chain proteins. It is not clear why respiration rates decline between early and late stationary phase. It is likely, however, that it is related either to the special physiology of stationary phase cultures (35) or is the result of oxidative damage to mitochondrial proteins. Respiration rates for all strains are similar in mid-logarithmic cultures. Each of the sod mutants have lower rates of respiration than wild type cells in early stationary phase cultures, and the sod1 and sod1sod2 mutants have significantly lower respiration rates than the wild type or sod2 mutant in late stationary phase cultures. By comparing these results with those shown in Fig. 3, two interesting conclusions emerge. First, despite the large increase in respiration in all strains between the mid-logarithmic and early stationary phases, there is no corresponding increase in overall oxidative damage to mitochondrial or cytosolic proteins. Second, there is an inverse correlation between respiration rate and mitochondrial protein carbonylation in cells from the late stationary phase.
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50 kDa are abundant in the mid-logarithmic phase cells from all four strains (lanes 25), they are greatly reduced in the late stationary phase cells from all four strains (lanes 69). Moreover, by comparing the two-dimensional gels shown in Fig. 5B for the late stationary phase cells with the two dimensional gels shown in Fig. 7B for the mid-logarithmic phase cells from the same strains, it is clear that specific high molecular mass proteins are absent from the late stationary phase cells. Indeed, all strains from late stationary phase lack spots 2123 and have lower levels of protein spots 18, 19, 24, 26, and 27. Together, these findings provide clear support for protein degradation in late stationary phase cells from all strains and make it difficult, if not impossible, to interpret changes in the protein carbonylation of specific proteins in late stationary phase cells.
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Silver-stained two-dimensional gels of mitochondrial proteins from wild type cells treated with paraquat reveal about 400 protein spots (Fig. 7B), which represents over half of known yeast mitochondrial proteins (37, 38). The pattern observed is similar to that reported recently for JM43, another wild type yeast strain (27). Overall, the pattern of spots seen for the sod1 and sod2 mutants is similar to that observed for the wild type. However, the carbonylation levels of some proteins clearly differ among wild type, sod1 and sod2 mutant cells. Using the criteria established above, we find that 19 protein spots, representing 11 unique proteins, are at least twice as carbonylated in the sod2 mutant as in the wild type (Fig. 7). These proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF analysis and in some cases from sequencing peptide fragments using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (Table II). Most of these proteins are located within the mitochondrial matrix, where MnSOD is located (Table II). The exceptions are glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Tdhp), which is found in the cytosol, and porin1 (Por1p), which is located in the outer mitochondrial membrane. The presence of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate within the mitochondrial fraction may represent contamination of this fraction with cytosolic proteins, or alternatively, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase may be an enzyme like fumarase that is distributed between both the mitochondria and cytosol (39). It was not possible to determine which glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate isoform, Tdh2p or Tdh3p, is carbonylated because these two proteins in yeast overlap slightly on two-dimensional gels (40). In addition, both proteins become carbonylated in S. cerevisiae when cells are treated with hydrogen peroxide (41). Spot 12 was identified as a mixture of both the pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 component and the core 1 protein of the ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase complex (complex III). This mixture, initially identified with MALDI-TOF, was confirmed by sequencing four peptides. Two peptides were identified as fragments from pyruvate dehydrogenase, and the other two were identified as fragments from the core 1 protein. It was not possible to determine whether one or both of these proteins are carbonylated. The level of expression for nearly all carbonylated proteins is similar in the sod2 mutant and wild type cells, except for Ilv5p (spot 9), Lpd1p (spot 18), and Ilv2p (spot 24), which are lower in the mutant compared with the wild type.
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| DISCUSSION |
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The Effects of Respiration on Protein Carbonylation in Sod MutantsInterestingly, mitochondrial protein carbonylation in wild type or mutant cells is not correlated with the level of mitochondrial respiration during any phase of growth, so it is clear that the increase in protein carbonylation observed in late stationary phase cultures cannot be explained simply by the switch from fermentative to respiratory growth that cells experience during stationary phase (35). The finding that overall level of protein carbonylation is not correlated with mitochondrial respiration rates is consistent with the results from recent studies with yeast and other eukaryotes (4244). These studies have shown that ROS levels are affected by the degree to which mitochondrial electron transport is coupled to ATP synthesis and not by the rate of mitochondrial electron transport per se. Low levels of ROS are produced during state 3 respiration and are increased during a switch from state 3 to state 4 respiration, brought about by an increase in the ATP/ADP + Pi. ratio. This transition from state 3 to state 4 respiration is thought to result in an increase in mitochondrial membrane potential, which can prolong the lifespan of the ubisemiquinone within the Q cycle and attenuate the production of superoxide (45, 46). Aguilaniu et al. (43) have found that either carbon or nitrogen starvation in wild type yeast cells results in a decrease in respiration rate and an increase in protein oxidation. Carbon or nitrogen starvation favors state 4 respiration, a more reduced respiratory chain, and hence higher ROS production. These findings are interesting in the context of the late stationary phase data reported here because late stationary phase cells experience both nitrogen and carbon starvation (35).
The finding that overall levels of mitochondrial protein carbonylation levels are equivalent in mid-logarithmic and early stationary phase wild type and sod1 or sod2 mutant cells indicates that neither CuZnSOD nor MnSOD are required for protecting the majority of mitochondrial proteins from oxidation during these growth phases, as previously concluded by Fortuniak et al. (47). Using a spectrophotometric assay for measuring protein carbonyls, this study found that the level of protein carbonylation was not increased in S. cerevisiae mutants lacking sod1 or both sod1 and sod2 compared with wild type cells (47). Similarly, Escherichia coli mutants lacking Mn-SOD and FeSOD do not show an increase in protein carbonylation during mid-logarithmic growth, relative to wild type cells (48). Carbonylation only increases in these mutants during the stationary phase. Our carbonylation results, however, do not agree with those of Sturtz et al. (11), who have found an increase in mitochondrial protein carbonylation in sod1 mutants compared with wild type cells during the mid-logarithmic phase. These differences may be attributable to differences in the strains used or to the different methods used to detect carbonyl groups in the two studies. In our study, protein carbonylation was quantified by HPLC. This method provides a direct measure of mmol of carbonyl/M protein because it normalizes the carbonyl signal to the amount of protein loaded on the column. In contrast, Sturtz et al. (11) measured protein carbonylation using one-dimensional Western blotting with an antibody directed against the derivatized carbonyl group.
Our finding that the overall level of mitochondrial protein carbonylation is unaffected during early growth phases in sod1, sod2, or sod1sod2 mutants does not preclude the possibility that CuZnSOD and MnSOD are critical for protecting specific proteins during these growth phases. Given that there are
700 proteins associated with the mitochondrion in yeast (37, 38), an increase in carbonylation of a few proteins could easily go undetected. A case in point is aconitase and homoaconitase, which previous studies have shown are protected from oxidative stress by both CuZnSOD and MnSOD (24, 49). Moreover, it is important to note that protein carbonylation is only one form of protein oxidation and that MnSOD and CuZnSOD may play a role in protecting mitochondrial proteins from other types of oxidative or nitrosative damage during early growth phases. Aconitase, as well as other mitochondrial proteins, are inactivated by peroxynitrite which forms 3-nitrotyrosines in proteins (50, 51). Peroxynitrite (ONOO) is formed by the reaction of superoxide with nitric oxide, and thus levels of ONOO are likely higher in mutants lacking SOD compared with wild type cells.
Specific Proteins Are Carbonylated in sod1 and sod2 Mutants Exposed to ParaquatBy identifying carbonylated proteins in sod1 and sod2 mutants exposed to paraquat, it is clear that a relatively small number of proteins are affected by the absence of either MnSOD or CuZnSOD. This suggests that these superoxide dismutases protect specific proteins from paraquat-generated oxidants. Three conclusions can be reached by comparing those proteins that become carbonylated in sod1 and sod2 mutants. First, both CuZnSOD and MnSOD are required to protect some mitochondrial proteins. These include: one outer mitochondrial membrane (porin), one matrix protein (subunit 2 of isocitrate dehydrogenase), and one inner membrane protein (the core 1 protein of ubiquinol cytochrome c reductase). Second, by itself, CuZnSOD protects only one protein, enolase 2, found in our mitochondrial preparations. Interestingly, enolase 2 is a cytosolic protein. Insofar as CuZnSOD resides in both the cytosol and intermembrane space, it seems likely that the enhanced carbonylation of enolase 2 in the sod1 mutant results from the cytosolic and not mitochondrial activity of CuZnSOD. Third, by itself, MnSOD protects six mitochondrial proteins (subunit 1 of keto-acid reductoisomerase, subunit 1 of pyruvate dehydrogenase, the
subunit of ATP synthase, aconitase, acetolactate synthase, and YHb flavohemoglobin). As expected, all of these proteins reside in the matrix, where MnSOD itself is located. When considered together, these findings indicate that MnSOD protects some mitochondrial matrix proteins from enhanced levels of carbonylation brought about by exposure to paraquat. They also indicate that CuZnSOD, by itself, does not protect any mitochondrial proteins from paraquat-induced oxidative stress. Instead, CuZnSOD works together with MnSOD to protect a small number of mitochondrial proteins. Our results agree with those recently reported by Wallace et al. (49), who determined that Sod1p is required for protecting two matrix enzymes, homoaconitase and aconitase, from inactivation. It is not clear why both CuZnSOD and MnSOD are required to protect some mitochondrial proteins. One possibility is that superoxide becomes protonated in the intermembrane space and diffuses into the matrix. The phospholipids of the mitochondrial inner membrane impart a negative charge to the membrane that attracts protons. This results in a decrease in the pH near the membrane that in turn facilitates the protonation of superoxide and formation of the perhydroxyl radical (
). Unlike superoxide, this ROS can diffuse across the inner membrane and into the matrix (52). This process is likely enhanced in cells lacking sod1, and the influx of ROS may overwhelm the capacity of Sod2p to protect matrix proteins from oxidative damage. Alternatively, these two superoxide dismutases may work at different times during the biogenesis of these proteins. For example, because of its location in the intermembrane space and cytosol, CuZnSOD may act while the protein is being targeted to the mitochondrion and imported across the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes, whereas MnSOD, which is located in the matrix, may act after the protein has been imported. A third possibility is that these two superoxide dismutases function in protecting different amino acid side chains on each protein. These possibilities are currently under study.
| FOOTNOTES |
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Present address: Inst. of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7000. ![]()
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 303-493-3823; Fax: 303-492-3883; E-mail: Poyton{at}spot.colorado.edu.
1 The abbreviations used are: ROS, reactive oxygen species; SOD, superoxide dismutase; MnSOD, manganese-containing SOD; CuZn-SOD, copper- and zinc-containing SOD; SC, synthetic complete; MALDI-TOF, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight; HPLC, high pressure liquid chromatography; DNP, 2,4-dinitrophenol; DNPH, 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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