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Filamentous cable bacteria display long-range electron transport, generating electrical currents over centimeter distances through a highly ordered network of fibers embedded in their cell envelope. The conductivity of these periplasmic wires is exceptionally high for a biological material, but their chemical structure and underlying electron transport mechanism remain unresolved. Here, we combine high-resolution microscopy, spectroscopy, and chemical imaging on individual cable bacterium filaments to demonstrate that the periplasmic wires consist of a conductive protein core surrounded by an insulating protein shell layer. The core proteins contain a sulfur-ligated nickel cofactor, and conductivity decreases when nickel is oxidized or selectively removed. The involvement of nickel as the active metal in biological conduction is remarkable, and suggests a hitherto unknown form of electron transport that enables efficient conduction in centimeter-long protein structures., Filamentous cable bacteria conduct electrical currents over centimeter distances through fibers embedded in their cell envelope. Here, Boschker et al. show that the fibers consist of a conductive core containing nickel proteins that is surrounded by an insulating protein shell.

OBJECTIVE Long before clinical complications of type 1 diabetes (T1D) develop, oxygen supply and use can be altered during activities of daily life. We examined in patients with uncomplicated T1D all steps of the oxygen pathway, from the lungs to the mitochondria, using an integrative ex vivo (muscle biopsies) and in vivo (during exercise) approach. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We compared 16 adults with T1D with 16 strictly matched healthy control subjects. We assessed lung diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide and nitric oxide, exercise-induced changes in arterial O2 content (SaO2, PaO2, hemoglobin), muscle blood volume, and O2 extraction (via near-infrared spectroscopy). We analyzed blood samples for metabolic and hormonal vasoactive moieties and factors that are able to shift the O2-hemoglobin dissociation curve. Mitochondrial oxidative capacities were assessed in permeabilized vastus lateralis muscle fibers. RESULTS Lung diffusion capacity and arterial O2 transport were normal in patients with T1D. However, those patients displayed blunted exercise-induced increases in muscle blood volume, despite higher serum insulin, and in O2 extraction, despite higher erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. Although complex I– and complex II–supported mitochondrial respirations were unaltered, complex IV capacity (relative to complex I capacity) was impaired in patients with T1D, and this was even more apparent in those with long-standing diabetes and high HbA1c. O2max was lower in patients with T1D than in the control subjects. CONCLUSIONS Early defects in microvascular delivery of blood to skeletal muscle and in complex IV capacity in the mitochondrial respiratory chain may negatively impact aerobic fitness. These findings are clinically relevant considering the main role of skeletal muscle oxidation in whole-body glucose disposal.

Complement component 1 Q subcomponent-binding protein (C1QBP; also known as p32) is a multi-compartmental protein whose precise function remains unknown. It is an evolutionary conserved multifunctional protein localized primarily in the mitochondrial matrix and has roles in inflammation and infection processes, mitochondrial ribosome biogenesis, and regulation of apoptosis and nuclear transcription. It has an N-terminal mitochondrial targeting peptide that is proteolytically processed after import into the mitochondrial matrix, where it forms a homotrimeric complex organized in a doughnut-shaped structure. Although C1QBP has been reported to exert pleiotropic effects on many cellular processes, we report here four individuals from unrelated families where biallelic mutations in C1QBP cause a defect in mitochondrial energy metabolism. Infants presented with cardiomyopathy accompanied by multisystemic involvement (liver, kidney, and brain), and children and adults presented with myopathy and progressive external ophthalmoplegia. Multiple mitochondrial respiratory-chain defects, associated with the accumulation of multiple deletions of mitochondrial DNA in the later-onset myopathic cases, were identified in all affected individuals. Steady-state C1QBP levels were decreased in all individuals' samples, leading to combined respiratory-chain enzyme deficiency of complexes I, III, and IV. C1qbp -/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) resembled the human disease phenotype by showing multiple defects in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Complementation with wild-type, but not mutagenized, C1qbp restored OXPHOS protein levels and mitochondrial enzyme activities in C1qbp -/- MEFs. C1QBP deficiency represents an important mitochondrial disorder associated with a clinical spectrum ranging from infantile lactic acidosis to childhood (cardio)myopathy and late-onset progressive external ophthalmoplegia.

Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic mold responsible for invasive aspergillosis. Triazoles (e.g., voriconazole) represent the first-line treatment, but emerging resistance is of concern. The echinocandin drug caspofungin is used as second-line treatment but has limited efficacy. The heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) orchestrates the caspofungin stress response and is the trigger of an adaptive phenomenon called the paradoxical effect (growth recovery at increasing caspofungin concentrations). The aim of this study was to elucidate the Hsp90-dependent mechanisms of the caspofungin stress response. Transcriptomic profiles of the wild-type A. fumigatus strain (KU80) were compared to those of a mutant strain with substitution of the native hsp90 promoter by the thiA promoter (pthiA-hsp90), which lacks the caspofungin paradoxical effect. Caspofungin induced expression of the genes of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC), in particular, NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductases (complex I), in KU80 but not in the pthiA-hsp90 mutant. The caspofungin paradoxical effect could be abolished by rotenone (MRC complex I inhibitor) in KU80, supporting the role of MRC in the caspofungin stress response. Fluorescent staining of active mitochondria and measurement of oxygen consumption and ATP production confirmed the activation of the MRC in KU80 in response to caspofungin, but this activity was impaired in the pthiA-hsp90 mutant. Using a bioluminescent reporter for the measurement of intracellular calcium, we demonstrated that inhibition of Hsp90 by geldanamycin or MRC complex I by rotenone prevented the increase in intracellular calcium shown to be essential for the caspofungin paradoxical effect. In conclusion, our data support a role of the MRC in the caspofungin stress response which is dependent on Hsp90.

The phagocytic NADPH oxidase generates superoxide by transferring electrons from cytosolic NADPH to extracellular O2. The activity of the oxidase at the plasma membrane can be measured as electron current (I(e)), and the voltage dependence of I(e) was recently reported to exhibit a strong rectification in human eosinophils, with the currents being nearly voltage independent at negative potentials. To investigate the underlying mechanism, we performed voltage-clamp experiments on inside-out patches from human eosinophils activated with PMA. Electron current was evoked by bath application of different concentrations of NADPH, whereas slow voltage ramps (0.8 mV/ms), ranging from -120 to 200 mV, were applied to obtain 'steady-state' current-voltage relationships (I-V). The amplitude of I(e) recorded at -40 mV was minimal at 8 microM NADPH and saturated above 1 mM, with half-maximal activity (K(m)) observed at approx. 110 microM NADPH. Comparison of I-V values obtained at different NADPH concentrations revealed that the voltage-dependence of I(e) is strongly influenced by the substrate concentration. Above 0.1 mM NADPH, I(e) was markedly voltage-dependent and steeply decreased with depolarization within the physiological membrane potential range (-60 to 60 mV), the I-V curve strongly rectifying only below -100 mV. At lower NADPH concentrations the I-V curve was progressively shifted to more positive potentials and I(e) became voltage-independent also within the physiological range. Consequently, the K(m) of the oxidase decreased by approx. 40% (from 100 to 60 microM) when the membrane potential increased from -60 to 60 mV. We concluded that the oxidase activity depends on both membrane potential and [NADPH], and that the shape of the I(e)-V curve is influenced by the concentration of NADPH in the submillimolar range. The surprising voltage-independence of I(e) reported in whole-cell perforated patch recordings was most likely due to substrate limitation and is not an intrinsic property of the oxidase.

The NADPH oxidase is the main weapon of phagocytic white blood cells that are the first line of defence of our body against invading pathogens, and patients lacking a functional oxidase suffer from severe and recurrent infections. The oxidase is a multisubunit enzyme complex that transports electrons from cytoplasmic NADPH to molecular oxygen in order to generate superoxide free radicals. Electron transport across the plasma membrane is electrogenic and is associated with the flux of protons through voltage-activated proton channels. Both proton and electron currents can be recorded with the patch-clamp technique, but whether the oxidase is a proton channel or a proton channel modulator remains controversial. Recently, we have used the inside–out configuration of the patch-clamp technique to record proton and electron currents in excised patches. This approach allows us to measure the oxidase activity under very controlled conditions, and has provided new information about the enzymatic activity of the oxidase and its coupling to proton channels. In this chapter I will discuss how the unique characteristics of the electron and proton currents associated with the redox activity of the NADPH oxidase have extended our knowledge about the thermodynamics and the physiological regulation of this remarkable enzyme.