Procaspase-9 is attached to the mitochondrial outer membrane in the early stages of apoptosis

✍ Scribed by Irina Milisav; Dušan Šuput

• Book ID: 111490380
• Publisher: SP Versita
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 684 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1425-8153
• DOI: 10.2478/s11658-007-0020-3

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Procaspase-9 is the zymogen form of one of the apoptosis initiators, caspase-9. Its cellular location may differ depending on the cell type; it is found throughout the cytosol, although some of it may be associated with the mitochondria. Procaspase-9 relocates from the cytosol to the mitochondria shortly after the triggering of apoptosis in rat hepatocytes. We investigated whether the mitochondrial protein import machineries import procaspase-9. The combined results of protein import analyses, mitochondrial fractionation and protease treatments of intact and swollen mitochondria imply that procaspase-9 attaches to the outer surface of the mitochondrial outer membrane.