title: Modulation of mammalian cell growth and death by prokaryotic and eukaryotic cytochrome c.
abstract: Cytochrome c(551), an 8,685-Da haem-containing protein, is known to be involved in electron transfer during dissimilative denitrification by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both cytochrome c(551) and copper-containing redox protein azurin have been used in vitro as partners in electron transfer. Azurin has been reported to induce apoptosis in macrophages and cancer cells. We now report that, unlike azurin, cytochrome c(551), termed Cyt c(551), has very little ability to induce apoptosis in J774 cell line-derived macrophages but demonstrates significant inhibition of cell cycle progression in such cells. A mutant form of Cyt c(551), V23DI59E, has significantly reduced ability to inhibit cell cycle progression but demonstrates a higher level of apoptosis-inducing activity in macrophages, compared with WT Cyt c(551). Interestingly, the WT Cyt c(551), but not the mutant form, significantly enhances the level of tumor suppressor protein p16(Ink4a), a known inhibitor of cell cycle progression whereas the mutant form seems to form a complex with tumor suppressor protein p53, thereby enhancing its intracellular level to some extent. Eukaryotic cytochromes such as horse and bovine cytochrome c have also been shown to induce apoptosis but not inhibition of cell cycle progression in J774 cells, thus signifying a role of this redox protein in entry to, and in the induction of, cell death in mammalian cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, 835 South Wolcott Avenue, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Tapas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Das Gupta
authors.forename: Ananda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000378:metabolism; D003574:Cytochrome c Group / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D017931:DNA Primers; D016193:G1 Phase; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016196:S Phase; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16; D003574:Cytochrome c Group; D017931:DNA Primers; C017167:cytochrome C(551)