Do mitochondria act as “cargo boats” in the journey of GD3 to the nucleus during apoptosis?

Garofalo, Tina; Tinari, Antonella; Matarrese, Paola; Giammarioli, Anna Maria; Manganelli, Valeria; Ciarlo, Laura; Misasi, Roberta; Sorice, Maurizio; Malorni, Walter

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2007.07.020

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Volume 581, Issue 21 , Pages 3899-3903, 21 August 2007

Do mitochondria act as “cargo boats” in the journey of GD3 to the nucleus during apoptosis?

Edited by Vladimir Skulachev

Tina Garofalo
- Department of Experimental Medicine, “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy
- Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Environmental Pathology, “Sapienza” University, Rieti, Italy
Antonella Tinari
- Department of Technology and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, Rome, Italy
Paola Matarrese
- Department of Drug Research and Evaluation, Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
Anna Maria Giammarioli
- Department of Drug Research and Evaluation, Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
Valeria Manganelli
- Department of Experimental Medicine, “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy
Laura Ciarlo
- Department of Experimental Medicine, “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy
- Department of Drug Research and Evaluation, Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
Roberta Misasi
- Department of Experimental Medicine, “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy
Maurizio Sorice
- Department of Experimental Medicine, “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy
- Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Environmental Pathology, “Sapienza” University, Rieti, Italy
Walter Malorni
- Department of Drug Research and Evaluation, Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
- Corresponding author. Fax: +39 06 49903691.

Received 25 June 2007; accepted 12 July 2007. published online 20 July 2007.

Abstract

Plasma membrane lipid rafts have been considered as a sort of “chamber”, where several subcellular activities, including CD95/Fas-mediated pro-apoptotic signaling, can take place. Recently, we demonstrated that, after CD95/Fas triggering, raft-like microdomains could be detected in mitochondrial membranes. The mitochondrion appears as a dynamic and subcompartmentalized organelle in which microdomains might act as controllers of apoptosis-associated fission that results in the release of apoptogenic factors. Here, we hypothesize that some “small” mitochondria, possibly derived from their fission process, can reach the nuclear envelope and strictly interact with this. Mitochondria could act as a signaling “device” contributing to molecular trafficking of molecules, including raft-like components, during apoptosis.

Keywords: Lipid rafts, Apoptosis, Mitochondria, Nucleus