Regulatory role of the respiratory supercomplex factors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

摘要

The respiratory supercomplex factors (Rcf) 1 and 2 mediate supramolecular interactions between mitochondrial complexes III (ubiquinolcytochrome c reductase; cyt. bc(1)) and IV (cytochrome c oxidase; CytcO). In addition, removal of these polypeptides results in decreased activity of CytcO, but not of cyt. bc(1). In the present study, we have investigated the kinetics of ligand binding, the singleturn-over reaction of CytcO with O-2, and the linked cyt. bc(1)-CytcO quinol oxidation-oxygen-reduction activities in mitochondria in which Rcf1 or Rcf2 were removed genetically (strains rcf1 Delta and rcf2 Delta, respectively). The data show that in the rcf1 Delta and rcf2 Delta strains, in a significant fraction of the population, ligand binding occurs over a time scale that is similar to 100-fold faster (tau congruent to 100 mu s) than observed with the wild-type mitochondria (tau congruent to 10 ms), indicating structural changes. This effect is specific to removal of Rcf and not dissociation of the cyt. bc(1)-CytcO supercomplex. Furthermore, in the rcf1 Delta and rcf2 Delta strains, the single-turnover reaction of CytcO with O-2 was incomplete. This observation indicates that the lower activity of CytcO is caused by a fraction of inactive CytcO rather than decreased CytcO activity of the entire population. Furthermore, the data suggest that the Rcf1 polypeptide mediates formation of an electrontransfer bridge from cyt. bc(1) to CytcO via a tightly bound cyt. c. We discuss the significance of the proposed regulatory mechanism of Rcf1 and Rcf2 in the context of supramolecular interactions between cyt. bc(1) and CytcO.