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A mitochondrion is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy. They were discovered by Albert von Kölliker in 1857 in the voluntary muscles of insects. The term mitochondrion was coined by Carl Benda in 1898. The mitochondrion is popularly nicknamed the "powerhouse of the cell", a phrase coined by Philip Siekevitz in a 1957 article of the same name.
Leydig cells, also known as interstitial cells of the testes and interstitial cells of Leydig, are found adjacent to the seminiferous tubules in the testicle and produce testosterone in the presence of luteinizing hormone (LH). They are polyhedral in shape and have a large, prominent nucleus, an eosinophilic cytoplasm, and numerous lipid-filled vesicles.
The carotid body is a small cluster of chemoreceptor cells and supporting sustentacular cells situated at bifurcation of each common carotid artery in its adventitia.
The steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, commonly referred to as StAR (STARD1), is a transport protein that regulates cholesterol transfer within the mitochondria, which is the rate-limiting step in the production of steroid hormones. It is primarily present in steroid-producing cells, including theca cells and luteal cells in the ovary, Leydig cells in the testis and cell types in the adrenal cortex.
Cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme is commonly referred to as P450scc, where "scc" is an acronym for side-chain cleavage. P450scc is a mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone. This is the first reaction in the process of steroidogenesis in all mammalian tissues that specialize in the production of various steroid hormones.
PK-11195 is an isoquinoline carboxamide which binds selectively to the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR). It is one of the most commonly used PBR ligands due to its high affinity for the PBR in all species, although it is starting to be replaced by newer and more selective ligands.
Mitochondrial membrane transport proteins, also known as mitochondrial carrier proteins, are proteins which exist in the membranes of mitochondria. They serve to transport molecules and other factors, such as ions, into or out of the organelles. Mitochondria contain both an inner and outer membrane, separated by the inter-membrane space, or inner boundary membrane. The outer membrane is porous, whereas the inner membrane restricts the movement of all molecules. The two membranes also vary in membrane potential and pH. These factors play a role in the function of mitochondrial membrane transport proteins. There are 53 discovered human mitochondrial membrane transporters, with many others that are known to still need discovered.
Translocator protein (TSPO) is an 18 kDa protein mainly found on the outer mitochondrial membrane. It was first described as peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), a secondary binding site for diazepam, but subsequent research has found the receptor to be expressed throughout the body and brain. In humans, the translocator protein is encoded by the TSPO gene. It belongs to a family of tryptophan-rich sensory proteins. Regarding intramitochondrial cholesterol transport, TSPO has been proposed to interact with StAR to transport cholesterol into mitochondria, though evidence is mixed.
Golgi resident protein GCP60 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ACBD3 gene.
Mitochondrial import receptor subunit TOM70 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TOMM70A gene.
Rhodobacter sphaeroides is a kind of purple bacterium; a group of bacteria that can obtain energy through photosynthesis. Its best growth conditions are anaerobic phototrophy and aerobic chemoheterotrophy in the absence of light. R. sphaeroides is also able to fix nitrogen. It is remarkably metabolically diverse, as it is able to grow heterotrophically via fermentation and aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Such a metabolic versatility has motivated the investigation of R. sphaeroides as a microbial cell factory for biotechnological applications.
Membrane contact sites (MCS) are close appositions between two organelles. Ultrastructural studies typically reveal an intermembrane distance in the order of the size of a single protein, as small as 10 nm or wider, with no clear upper limit. These zones of apposition are highly conserved in evolution. These sites are thought to be important to facilitate signalling, and they promote the passage of small molecules, including ions, lipids and reactive oxygen species. MCS are important in the function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), since this is the major site of lipid synthesis within cells. The ER makes close contact with many organelles, including mitochondria, Golgi, endosomes, lysosomes, peroxisomes, chloroplasts and the plasma membrane. Both mitochondria and sorting endosomes undergo major rearrangements leading to fission where they contact the ER. Sites of close apposition can also form between most of these organelles most pairwise combinations. First mentions of these contact sites can be found in papers published in the late 1950s mainly visualized using electron microscopy (EM) techniques. Copeland and Dalton described them as “highly specialized tubular form of endoplasmic reticulum in association with the mitochondria and apparently in turn, with the vascular border of the cell”.
Emapunil is an anxiolytic drug which acts as a selective agonist at the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, also known as the mitochondrial 18 kDa translocator protein or TSPO. This protein has multiple functions, among which is regulation of steroidogenesis, particularly the production of neuroactive steroids such as allopregnanolone in the brain. In both animal and human trials, emapunil produced fast acting anxiolytic and anti-panic effects, without producing sedation or withdrawal symptoms following cessation of use. Emapunil is also used in its 11C radiolabelled form to map the distribution of TSPO receptors in the brain.
Ro5-4864 (4'-chlorodiazepam) is a drug which is a benzodiazepine derivative of diazepam. However unlike most benzodiazepine derivatives, Ro5-4864 lacks affinity for GABAA receptors and lacks typical benzodiazepine effects, instead being sedative yet also convulsant and anxiogenic in effects. Ro5-4864 was found to be a potent ligand for the "peripheral benzodiazepine receptor", later renamed to mitochondrial translocator protein 18kDa (TSPO). Despite its convulsant effects, at lower doses Ro5-4864 has proved to be neuroprotective and has become widely used for research into the role of the TSPO protein in neurotoxicity. In vitro studies and rodent models also suggest the possibility of analgesic, antidepressant, cardioprotective, and anti-cancer effects.
Magnesium-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester (oxidative) cyclase, is an enzyme with systematic name magnesium-protoporphyrin-IX 13-monomethyl ester, ferredoxin:oxygen oxidoreductase (hydroxylating). In plants this enzyme catalyses the following overall chemical reaction
A Light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain is a protein sensor used by a large variety of higher plants, microalgae, fungi and bacteria to sense environmental conditions. In higher plants, they are used to control phototropism, chloroplast relocation, and stomatal opening, whereas in fungal organisms, they are used for adjusting the circadian temporal organization of the cells to the daily and seasonal periods. They are a subset of PAS domains.
Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon), born February 18, 1961, in Athens, Greece, is a scholar, researcher, inventor, professor, and university administrator who has served as dean of the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California since 2016. Previously, he was the associate vice president and director of the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization at Georgetown University from 2005 to 2007, and the executive director and chief scientific officer of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center from 2007 to 2015.
Chlorophyllide a and Chlorophyllide b are the biosynthetic precursors of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b respectively. Their propionic acid groups are converted to phytyl esters by the enzyme chlorophyll synthase in the final step of the pathway. Thus the main interest in these chemical compounds has been in the study of chlorophyll biosynthesis in plants, algae and cyanobacteria. Chlorophyllide a is also an intermediate in the biosynthesis of bacteriochlorophylls.
Cholesterol is a cell signaling molecule that is highly regulated in eukaryotic cell membranes. In human health, its effects are most notable in inflammation, metabolic syndrome, and neurodegeneration. At the molecular level, cholesterol primarily signals by regulating clustering of saturated lipids and proteins that depend on clustering for their regulation.
References
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- ↑ Yeliseev AA, Kaplan S (September 1995). "A sensory transducer homologous to the mammalian peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor regulates photosynthetic membrane complex formation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1". J. Biol. Chem. 270 (36): 21167–75. doi: 10.1074/jbc.270.36.21167 . PMID 7673149.
- 1 2 Garnier M, Dimchev AB, Boujrad N, Price JM, Musto NA, Papadopoulos V (February 1994). "In vitro reconstitution of a functional peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor from mouse Leydig tumor cells". Mol. Pharmacol. 45 (2): 201–11. PMID 8114671.
- ↑ Zeng X, Kaplan S (November 2001). "TspO as a modulator of the repressor/antirepressor (PpsR/AppA) regulatory system in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1". J. Bacteriol. 183 (21): 6355–64. doi:10.1128/JB.183.21.6355-6364.2001. PMC 100131 . PMID 11591680.
- ↑ Yeliseev AA, Kaplan S (July 1999). "A novel mechanism for the regulation of photosynthesis gene expression by the TspO outer membrane protein of Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1". J. Biol. Chem. 274 (30): 21234–43. doi: 10.1074/jbc.274.30.21234 . PMID 10409680.
- ↑ Davey ME, de Bruijn FJ (December 2000). "A homologue of the tryptophan-rich sensory protein TspO and FixL regulate a novel nutrient deprivation-induced Sinorhizobium meliloti locus". Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66 (12): 5353–9. Bibcode:2000ApEnM..66.5353D. doi:10.1128/aem.66.12.5353-5359.2000. PMC 92468 . PMID 11097914.
- ↑ Papadopoulos V, Amri H, Li H, Yao Z, Brown RC, Vidic B, Culty M (2001). "Structure, function and regulation of the mitochondrial peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor". Thérapie. 56 (5): 549–56. PMID 11806292.
- ↑ Li H, Yao Z, Degenhardt B, Teper G, Papadopoulos V (January 2001). "Cholesterol binding at the cholesterol recognition/ interaction amino acid consensus (CRAC) of the peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor and inhibition of steroidogenesis by an HIV TAT-CRAC peptide". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98 (3): 1267–72. Bibcode:2001PNAS...98.1267L. doi: 10.1073/pnas.031461598 . PMC 14743 . PMID 11158628.
- ↑ Papadopoulos V (January 2003). "Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor: structure and function in health and disease". Ann Pharm Fr. 61 (1): 30–50. PMID 12589253.
- ↑ Yeliseev AA, Krueger KE, Kaplan S (May 1997). "A mammalian mitochondrial drug receptor functions as a bacterial "oxygen" sensor". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94 (10): 5101–6. Bibcode:1997PNAS...94.5101Y. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.10.5101 . PMC 24638 . PMID 9144197.