Investigations of the inhibitory effect of propranolol, chlorpromazine, quinine, and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide on the swelling of yeast mitochondria in potassium acetate. Evidences for indirect effects mediated by the lipid phase

Dos distúrbios psiquiátricos à antibioticoterapia: reposicionamento da clorpromazina como agente antibacteriano

O alarmante aumento na taxa de resistência aos antibióticos põe em check à eficácia da terapia antibacteriana futura. Em contrapartida, as indústrias farmacêuticas negligenciam os investimentos em pesquisa e desenvolvimento de novos fármacos antimicrobianos em virtude de questões financeiras, legais e farmacológicas. Assim sendo, o reposicionamento de agentes disponíveis clinicamente torna-se uma promissora ferramenta para tentar driblar o desinteresse das indústrias. O fármaco antipsicótico clorpromazina (CPZ) destaca-se por possuir uma ampla faixa de atividade antibacteriana, a qual cobre desde patógenos Gram-positivos e Gram-negativos, até as micobactérias. A atividade antibacteriana é independente do perfil de susceptibilidade do microrganismo, sendo ela mantida mesmo em cepas altamente resistentes aos antibióticos. Alguns estudos mostram que mesmo nas concentrações clinicamente disponíveis no plasma (entre 0,1-0,5 μg/mL), a CPZ é capaz de matar Staphylococcus aureus e Mycobacterium tuberculosis dentro dos macrófagos. Em adição, estudos clínicos têm revelado os benefícios do uso da CPZ na terapia de suporte para pacientes com infecções em curso. Em conclusão, a CPZ pode eventualmente ser direcionada ao arsenal terapêutico antimicrobiano, especialmente no manejo das infecções causadas por microrganismos intracelulares com fenótipo multirresistente.

Closure of the yeast mitochondria unspecific channel (YMUC) unmasks a Mg2+ and quinine sensitive K+ uptake pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The K+ uptake pathways in yeast mitochondria are still undefined. Nonetheless, the K+-mediated mitochondrial swelling observed in the absence of phosphate (PO4) and in the presence of a respiratory substrate has led to propose that large K+ movements occur in yeast mitochondria. Thus, the uptake of K+ by isolated yeast mitochondria was evaluated. Two parallel experiments were conducted to evaluate K+ transport; these were mitochondrial swelling and the uptake of the radioactive K+ analog 86Rb+. The opening of the yeast mitochondrial unspecific channel (YMUC) was regulated by different PO4 concentrations. The high protein concentrations used to measure 86Rb+ uptake resulted in a slight stabilization of the transmembrane potential at 0.4 mM PO4 but not at 0 or 4 mM PO4. At 4 mM PO4 swelling was inhibited while, in contrast, 86Rb+ uptake was still observed. The results suggest that an energy-dependent K+ uptake mechanism was unmasked when the YMUC was closed. To further analyze the properties of this K+ uptake system, the Mg2+ and quinine sensitivity of both swelling and 86Rb+ uptake were evaluated. Under the conditions where the unspecific pore was closed, K+ transport sensitivity to Mg2+ and quinine increased. In addition, when Zn2+ was added as an antiport inhibitor, uptake of 86Rb+ increased. It is suggested that in yeast mitochondria, the K+ concentration is highly regulated by the equilibrium of uptake and exit of this cation through two specific transporters.

Inhibition of protein import into mitochondria by amphiphilic cations: potential targets and mechanism of action

In this paper we describe for the first time the inhibitory effect of three amphiphilic cations, trifluoperazine, propranolol and dibucaine on mitochondrial protein import. The amphiphilic cations did not affect binding of mitochondrial precursor proteins to mitochondria. Import into mitoplasts was affected in a similar manner to intact mitochondria, indicating that the protein import machinery of the inner membrane of mitochondria was responsible for the observed effect. At concentrations which completely inhibited protein import, the amphiphilic cations did not affect the membrane potential (DeltaPsi) across the inner membrane. The inhibitory potency of amphiphilic cations reflects their lipid/water partition coefficient and relatively high concentrations of the drugs were required for complete inhibition, hence we propose that the mechanism of protein import inhibition by amphiphilic cations is due to membrane perturbing effects. We discuss the implications of our findings in view of the possible connection between various inner mitochondrial membrane channels and the protein import pore.

Characterization of the yeast mitochondria unselective channel: a counterpart to the mammalian permeability transition pore?

Large and unselective permeabilities through the inner membrane of yeast mitochondria have been observed for more than 20 years, but the characterization of these permeabilities, leading to hypothesize the existence of a large-conductance unselective channel in yeast inner mitochondrial membrane, was done only recently by several groups. This channel has been tentatively identified as a yeast counterpart to the mammalian permeability transition pore, the crucial role of which is now well-documented in physiopathological phenomena, such as Ca2+ homeostasis, ischemic damages, or programmed cell death. The aim of this review is to make a point on the known characteristics of this yeast mitochondrial unselective channel (YMUC) and to analyze whether or not it can be considered as a "yeast permeability transition pore."

Conditions allowing different states of ATP- and GDP-induced permeability in mitochondria from different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The effect of ATP and other nucleotides on the respiration of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria was investigated. It was observed that ATP induced a stimulation of the respiration rate only in the presence of a salt in mitochondria from the baker's yeast Yeast Foam, whereas an ATP-induced stimulation occurred even in the absence of salt in mitochondria from three different laboratory strains. In both cases, the stimulation was related to a collapse of the transmembrane potential, suggesting the opening of ion- and/or proton-conducting pathways. Not only ATP, but also GTP and CTP, induced these pathways. Moreover, a similar stimulation was obtained with GDP and its analog GDP-beta-S. The fact that, as opposed to NTPs, GDP did not induce any non-specific anion channel, allowed us to use it to demonstrate unambiguously that a proton-conducting pathway was opened through the inner mitochondrial membrane of laboratory strains but not of Yeast Foam. Three additional aspects of this nucleotide-induced permeability were investigated. (i) The proton-conducting pathway was insensitive to Mg2+, whereas the anion-conducting pathway was fully inhibited by 4 mM Mg2-. (ii) The proton-conducting pathway of mitochondria isolated from laboratory strains was opened by the action of nucleotides outside the mitochondrion, since it was fully insensitive to (carboxy)atractyloside, and fully active in mitochondria isolated from op1 and delta anc strains. On the other hand, the cation-conducting pathway of Yeast Foam mitochondria was partly sensitive to (carboxy)atractyloside and insensitive to bongkrekic acid, suggesting a role of the conformational state of ANC in this activity. (iii) Both the proton and cation-conducting pathways were inhibited by very low concentrations of vanadate, under conditions where this oxyanion was polymerized to decavanadate: a competitor to nucleotide-binding sites on some enzymes.