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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Examining BCL-2 Family Function with Large Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: October 5, 2012
Interplay between bax, reactive oxygen species production, and cardiolipin oxidation during apoptosis
Jianfei Jiang1, Zhentai Huang, Qing Zhao
1Center for Free Radical and Antioxidant Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh, Bridgeside Point, 100 Technology Drive, Suite 350, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA.
Abstract:
Bax/Bak activation and cardiolipin peroxidation are essential for cytochrome c release during apoptosis, yet, the link between them remains elusive. We report that sequence of events after exposure of mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells to actinomycin D followed the order: Bax translocation-->superoxide production-->cardiolipin peroxidation. Genetic ablation of Bax/Bak inhibited actinomycin D induced superoxide production and cardiolipin peroxidation. Rotenone caused robust superoxide generation but did not trigger cardiolipin peroxidation in Bax/Bak double knockout MEF cells. This suggests that, in addition to participating in ROS generation, Bax/Bak play another specific role in cardiolipin oxidation. In isolated mitochondria, recombinant Bax enhanced succinate induced cardiolipin oxidation and cytochrome c release. Mitochondrial peroxidase activity, likely involved in cardiolipin peroxidation, was enhanced upon incubation with recombinant Bax. Thus, cardiolipin peroxidation may be causatively and time-dependently related to Bax/Bak effects on ROS generation and peroxidase activation of cytochrome c.
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