Sensitivity of Caenorhabditis elegans clk-1 Mutants toUbiquinone Side-chain Length Reveals Multiple Ubiquinone-dependent Processes
| Autor: | Abdelmadjid K. Hihi, Hania Kebir, Siegfried Hekimi |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2003 |
| Předmět: |
biology
Ubiquinone Blotting Western Mutant Cell Biology biology.organism_classification Biochemistry Null allele Coenzyme Q – cytochrome c reductase Mutation Genetic model Animals Protein Isoforms Allele Caenorhabditis elegans Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins Inner mitochondrial membrane Molecular Biology Gene Alleles |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Biological Chemistry. 278:41013-41018 |
| ISSN: | 0021-9258 |
| DOI: | 10.1074/jbc.m305034200 |
| Popis: | Ubiquinone (coenzyme Q, or Q) is a membrane constituent, whose head group is capable of accepting and donating electrons and whose lipidic side chain is composed of a variable number of isoprene subunits. A possible role for Q as a dietary antioxidant for treating conditions that involve altered cellular redox states is being intensely studied. Mutations in the clk-1 gene of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans affect numerous physiological rates including behavioral rates, developmental rates, reproduction, and life span. clk-1 encodes a protein associated with the inner mitochondrial membrane that is necessary for Q biosynthesis in C. elegans. clk-1 mutants do not synthesize Q but accumulate demethoxyubiquinone, a Q synthesis intermediate that is able to partially sustain mitochondrial respiration in worms as well as in mammals. Recently, we and others have found that exogenous Q is necessary for the fertility and development of clk-1 mutants. Here, we take advantage of the clk-1 genetic model to identify structural features of Q that are functionally important in vivo. We show that clk-1 mutants are exquisitely sensitive to the length of the side chain of the Q they consume. We also identified differential sensitivity to Q side-chain length between null alleles of clk-1 (qm30 and qm51) and the weaker allele e2519. This allows us to propose a model where we distinguish several types of Q-dependent processes in vivo: processes that are very sensitive to Q side-chain length and processes that are permissive to Q with shorter chains. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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