[Frontiers in Bioscience 14, 3550-3562, January 1, 2009]

Pharmacological screening and enzymatic assays for apoptosis

Anne-Sophie Belzacq-Casagrande1,2, Cecile Martel1,3, Claire Pertuiset1, Annie Borgne-Sanchez2, Etienne Jacotot2, Catherine Brenner1

1University of Versailles/SQY, PRES UniverSud Paris, CNRS UMR 8159, Versailles, France, 2Theraptosis R and D Laboratory, Theraptosis SA, Romainville, France, 3Inserm U602, PRES UniverSud Paris, Hopital Paul Brousse, Villejuif, France

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Material and methods
3.1. Isolation of mouse liver mitochondria
3.2. Swelling and depolarization assays
3.3. Inner membrane permeabilization assay
3.4. NADH ferricyanide assay of VDAC activity
3.5. ADP/ATP translocase assay
3.6. Statistical analysis
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Ultrastructural effects of Ca2+, MP and Vpr52-96 on mouse liver isolated mitochondria
4.2. Calcium, MP and Vpr52-96, but not CCCP induce the mitochondrial matrix swelling
4.3. Calcium, MP, Vpr52-96, and CCCP induce the mitochondrial depolarization
4.4. Calcium, MP and Vpr52-96, but not CCCP induce a large inner membrane permeability
4.5. Vpr52-96 but not calcium, MP, CCCP modulates NADH reductase activity of VDAC
4.6. ADP/ATP translocation activity is inhibited by Vpr52-96, MP, calcium, and CCCP
5. Concluding remarks
6. Acknowledgments
7. References

1. ABSTRACT

Mitochondria play a central role in the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. In response to many pro-apoptotic stimuli, mitochondria undergo an irreversible process called mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (MMP). The detection of MMP in isolated mitochondria is most often based on assays that monitor either the loss of the inner transmembrane potential (DYm; classically with Rhodamine 123), permeability transition (PT, cyclosporin A-sensitive matrix swelling), or the release of critical pro-apoptotic intermembrane space effectors. To gain complementary information on MMP mechanisms, we have systematically used three additional assays optimized for the 96-well microplate format: (1) inner membrane permeability, (2) VDAC-associated NADH reductase activity, and (3) ATP/ADP translocase activity. We report that ad hoc combinations of ANT and VDAC ligands, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), mastoparan and Vpr52-96 peptide and PT inhibitors, permit to explore relationships between enzymatic functions of sessile mitochondrial proteins (i.e. ANT, VDAC) and MMP. These assays should be useful tools to investigate mitochondrial apoptosis, decipher the implication of inner and outer membrane permeabilization and provide a multi-parametric approach for drug discovery.