title: Mitochondrial alterations in apoptosis.
abstract: Besides their conventional role as energy suppliers for the cell, mitochondria in vertebrates are active regulators of apoptosis. They release apoptotic factors from the intermembrane space into the cytosol through a mechanism that involves the Bcl-2 protein family, mediating permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane. Associated with this event, a number of additional changes affect mitochondria during apoptosis. They include loss of important mitochondrial functions, such as the ability to maintain calcium homeostasis and to generate ATP, as well as mitochondrial fragmentation and cristae remodeling. Moreover, the lipidic component of mitochondrial membranes undergoes important alterations in composition and distribution, which have turned out to be relevant regulatory events for the proteins involved in apoptotic mitochondrial damage.
authors.affiliation: German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cosentino
authors.affiliation: German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany; Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany; Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: ana.garcia@uni-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Ana J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: García-Sáez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D045304:Cytochromes c / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D051336:Mitochondrial Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D010539:Permeability
chemical_list: D045304:Cytochromes c
keywords: Apoptosis; Bcl-2 family proteins; Cardiolipin; Cristae remodeling; Mitochondrial fission; Mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization