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Five ion channels are observed in the mitochondrial inner membrane (IM) of mammals and two channels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mammalian Centum Pico-Siemens Channel and Megachannel/Multiconductance Channel are voltage dependent. The K(sub ATP) channel is specific for K+ ions and is voltage independent. The IM has both alkaline-induced cation selective activity and alkaline-induced anion selective activity. S. cerevisiae mitochondrial IM contains the large and small conductance channels. The electric properties, physiology and pharmacology of the channels are given.

The prion protein (PrPC) is a cell surface glycoprotein mainly expressed in neurons, whose misfolded isoforms generate the prion responsible for incurable neurodegenerative disorders. Whereas PrPC involvement in prion propagation is well established, PrPC physiological function is still enigmatic despite suggestions that it could act in cell signal transduction by modulating phosphorylation cascades and Ca2+ homeostasis. Because PrPC binds neurotoxic protein aggregates with high-affinity, it has also been proposed that PrPC acts as receptor for amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and that PrPC-Aβ binding mediates AD-related synaptic dysfunctions following activation of the tyrosine kinase Fyn. Here, use of gene-encoded Ca2+ probes targeting different cell domains in primary cerebellar granule neurons (CGN) expressing, or not, PrPC, allowed us to investigate whether PrPC regulates store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) and the implication of Fyn in this control. Our findings show that PrPC attenuates SOCE, and Ca2+ accumulation in the cytosol and mitochondria, by constitutively restraining Fyn activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of STIM1, a key molecular component of SOCE. This data establishes the existence of a PrPC-Fyn-SOCE triad in neurons. We also demonstrate that treating cerebellar granule and cortical neurons with soluble Aβ.(1-42) oligomers abrogates the control of PrPC over Fyn and SOCE, suggesting a PrPC-dependent mechanizm for Aβ-induced neuronal Ca2+ dyshomeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is now accepted that a conformational change of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) generates the prion, the infectious agent responsible for lethal neurodegenerative disorders, named transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases. The mechanisms of prion-associated neurodegeneration are still obscure, as is the cell role of PrPC, although increasing evidence attributes to PrPC important functions in cell survival. Such a behavioral dichotomy thus enables the prion protein to switch from a benign role under normal conditions, to the execution of neurons during disease. By reviewing data from models of prion disease and PrPC-null paradigms, which suggest a relation between the prion protein and Ca2+ homeostasis, here we discuss the possibility that Ca2+ is the factor behind the enigma of the pathophysiology of PrPC. Ca2+ features in almost all processes of cell signaling, and may thus tell us much about a protein that pivots between health and disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1. Respiring submitochondrial particles from which the F1 sector of ATP-synthase was displaced generated a membrane potential in the range of 115 - 140 mV. Addition of oligomycin raised the membrane potential by approximately 40 mV. The lower membrane potentials in particles with F1 displaced is attributed to partial dissipation of the proton electrochemical gradient as a consequence of proton flow through the open proton channels provided by the F0 sectors of th ATP-synthase. 2. The characteristics of proton flow through the open F0 channels were studied by varying the rate of electron transfort-driven proton translocation which permitted the establishment of a range of steady-state membrane potentials. Open F0 channels appeared to have a gated response to the membrane potential such that they were inoperative when the potential fell below approximately 110 mV. 3. The membrane potential was measured as a function of respiratory rate in intact Mg-ATP submitochondrial particles that had been treated with low concentrations of the carbonylcyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. In general a linear dependence of membrane potential upon respiratory rate was observed except at the lowest concentrations of protophore and highest respiratory rates, presumably because the effect of the protonophore was then offset by an increased rate of proton translocation driven by the respiratory chain. 4. The effect of increasing concentrations of carbonylcyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone on the membrane potentials of respiring submitochondrial particles was studied. It was found that equal amounts of the protonophore lowered the membrane potential to a lesser extent at lower values of the membrane potential. 5. Treatment of Mg-ATP submitochondiral particles with with oligomycin slightly slightly increased (by approximately 10 mV) the size of the respiration-dependent membrane potential, but did not alter the profile of membrane potential as a function of succinate oxidation rate. The latter was controlled by titration with malonate. This result indicates that the F0 sector of the ATP-synthase does not significantly contribute to leak pathways in intact submitochondrial particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnitude of the protonmotive force, and its division between pH gradient and membrane potential components has been further characterised in submitochondrial particles. In a reaction medium containing sucrose for osmotic support and 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonate (Hepes) as buffer, with succinate as substrate, the total protonmotive force reached a maximum value of 245 mV. The presence of Cl- enhanced the pH gradient with a partial but not fully compensating decrease in the membrane potential. When submitochondrial particles were suspended in a medium of low osmolarity consisting of phosphoric acid neutralised with Tris, again with succinate as substrate, the protonmotive force was lower and did not exceed 185 mV, and the pH gradient component was equivalent of 25 mV or less. The final phosphorylation potential, ΔGp, [This symbol cannot be presented in ASCII format] maintained by the particles was higher in the phosphate/Tris medium (46–47.7 kJ mol-1) than in the sucrose/Hepes/KCl medium (43.7 kJ mol-1). Thus, comparison of the phosphorylation potential with the protonmotive force would suggest that the mechanistic stoichiometry H+/ATP (H+ translocated per molecule of ATP synthesied) for the ATPase enzyme is 3 in the former medium and 2 in the latter, which might be taken to indicate two different types of mechanism required for ATP synthesis. However it is questioned whether a comparison of the protonmotive force with ΔGp in terms of equilibrium thermodynamics ought not to be complemented by analysis in terms of linear non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The latter treatment shows that it is possible to estimate only a value for the product of a phenomenological stoichiometry and the degree of coupling, which can be variable, but not the mechanistic stoichiometry. This treatment can also rationalise the observation of the higher ΔGp in reaction conditions where the lower values for Δp are estimated. Irrespective of possible explanations, the data show how an unprejudiced choice of reaction conditions can lead to different conclusions about the relationship between the phosphorylation potential and the protonmotive force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium (Ca 2+ ) is an intracellular second messenger that ubiquitously masters remarkably diverse biological processes, including cell death. Growing evidence substantiates an involvement of the prion protein (PrP C ) in regulating neuronal Ca 2+ homeostasis, which could rationalize most of the wide range of functions ascribed to the protein. We have recently demonstrated that PrP C controls extracellular Ca 2+ fluxes, and mitochondrial Ca 2+ uptake, in neurons stimulated with glutamate (De Mario et al., J Cell Sci 2017; 130:2736-46), suggesting that PrP C protects neurons from threatening Ca 2+ overloads and excitotoxicity. In light of these results and of recent reports in the literature, here we review the connection of PrP C with Ca 2+ metabolism and also provide some speculative hints on the physiologic outcomes of this link. In addition, because PrP C is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, including prion disorders and Alzheimer's disease, we will also discuss possible ways by which disruption of PrP C -Ca 2+ association could be mechanistically connected with these pathologies.

Targeted aequorin-based Ca(2+) probes represent an unprecedented tool for the reliable measurement of Ca(2+) concentration and dynamics in different sub-cellular compartments. The main advantages of aequorin are its proteinaceous nature, which allows attachment of a signal peptide for targeting aequorin to virtually any sub-cellular compartment; its low Ca(2+)-binding capacity; the wide range of Ca(2+) concentrations that can be measured, ranging from sub-micromolar to millimolar; its robust performance in aggressive environments, e.g., the strong acidic pH of the lysosomal lumen. Lentiviral vectors represent a popular tool to transduce post-mitotic or hard-to-transfect cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, it has great potential for gene therapy. Last generation lentiviral vectors represent a perfect compromise for combining large insert size, ease of production and handling, and high degree of biosafety. Here, we describe strategies for cloning aequorin probes - targeted to the cytosol, sub-plasma membrane cytosolic domains, the mitochondrial matrix, and the endoplasmic reticulum lumen - into lentiviral vectors. We describe methods for the production of lentiviral particles, and provide examples of measuring Ca(2+) dynamics by such aequorin-encoding lentiviral vectors in sub-cellular compartments of hard-to-transfect cells, including immortalized striatal neurons, primary cerebellar granule neurons and endothelial progenitor cells, which provide suitable in vitro models for the study of different human diseases., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Prion diseases are invariably fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting man and various animal species. A large body of evidence supports the notion that the causative agent of these diseases is the prion, which, devoid of nucleic acids, is composed largely, if not entirely, of a conformationally abnormal isoform (PrP(Sc) of the cellular prion protein (PrPc). PrPc is a highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed sialoglycoprotein, the normal function of which is, however, still ill defined. Several modules have been recognised in PrPc structure. Their extensive analysis by different experimental approaches, including transgenic animal models, has allowed to assigning to several modules a putative role in PrPc physiology. Concurrently, it has underscored the possibility that alteration of specific domains may determine the switching from a beneficial role of PrPc into one that becomes detrimental to neurons, and/or promote the conversion of PrPc into the pathogenic PrP(Sc) conformer.

Doppel is the first identified homologue of the prion protein (PrPc) implicated in prion disease. Doppel is considered an N-truncated form of PrPc, and shares with PrPc several structural and biochemical features. When over expressed in the brain of some PrP knockout animals, it provokes cerebellar ataxia. As this phenotype is rescued by reintroducing the PrP gene, it has been suggested that Doppel and PrPc have antagonistic functions and may compete for a common ligand. However, a direct interaction between the two proteins has recently been observed. To investigate whether the neuronal environment is suitable for such possibility, human Doppel and PrPc were expressed separately, or together, in neuroblastoma cells, and then studied by biochemical and immunomicroscopic tools, as well as in intact cells expressing fluorescent fusion constructs. The results demonstrate that Doppel and PrPc co-patch extensively at the plasma membrane, and get internalized together after ganglioside cross-linking by cholera toxin or addition of an antibody against only one of the proteins. These processes no longer occur if the integrity of rafts is disrupted. We also show that, whereas each protein expressed alone occupies Triton X-100-insoluble membrane microdomains, co-transfected Doppel and PrPc redistribute together into a less ordered lipidic environment. All these features are consistent with interactions occurring between Doppel and PrPc in our neuronal cell model.