Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Purification of H3 and H4 Histone Proteins and the Quantification of Acetylated Histone Marks in Cells and Brain Tissue
09:43

Purification of H3 and H4 Histone Proteins and the Quantification of Acetylated Histone Marks in Cells and Brain Tissue

Published on: November 30, 2018

22.1K

Demonstration of exogenous nuclear histone H3 binding to mitochondria and subsequent cytochrome c release in

Linda A Major1, Roger Sauterer1

  • 1Department of Biology, School of Science, Jacksonville State University, 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, AL, 36265, USA.

Cell Biology International
|August 28, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Programmed cell death involves histone release, which triggers mitochondrial damage. This study confirms histone-mediated cytochrome c release from cauliflower mitochondria, suggesting a conserved cell death pathway in eukaryotes.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Biochemistry
  • Plant Science

Background:

  • Programmed cell death (PCD) is crucial for cellular life cycles, involving mitochondrial regulation.
  • Histone release into the cytosol, due to DNA damage or nuclear issues, is linked to apoptosis in mammals.
  • Released histones can permeabilize mitochondrial membranes, leading to cytochrome c release and cell death.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the conserved nature of histone-mediated cytochrome c release from mitochondria.
  • To explore the interaction between histones and mitochondria in plants, specifically cauliflower.

Main Methods:

  • Purification of cauliflower mitochondria using density-gradient centrifugation.
  • Incubation of purified mitochondria with exogenous histone fractions.
  • Analysis of mitochondrial pellets and supernatants via immunoblotting for cytochrome c and histone H3.

Main Results:

  • Histone-enriched fractions induced the release of cytochrome c from cauliflower mitochondria.
  • Cauliflower mitochondria demonstrated binding to exogenous histone H3.
  • Evidence supports a conserved histone-mitochondrial interaction in eukaryotes.

Conclusions:

  • Histone-mediated mitochondrial membrane permeabilization and subsequent cytochrome c release is a conserved mechanism in eukaryotes.
  • This finding provides insights into the evolutionary conservation of programmed cell death pathways.
Keywords:
apoptosiscauliflower (Brassica oleracea)cytochrome chistonesmitochondriaprogrammed cell death

More Related Videos

Activation of Apoptosis by Cytoplasmic Microinjection of Cytochrome c07:42

Activation of Apoptosis by Cytoplasmic Microinjection of Cytochrome c

Published on: June 29, 2011

17.8K
Analysis of Histone Antibody Specificity with Peptide Microarrays09:47

Analysis of Histone Antibody Specificity with Peptide Microarrays

Published on: August 1, 2017

41.7K

Related Concept Videos

Nuclear Binding Energy02:13

Nuclear Binding Energy

The difference between the calculated and experimentally measured masses is known as the mass defect of the atom. In the case of helium-4, the mass defect indicates a “loss” in mass of 4.0331 amu – 4.0026 amu = 0.0305 amu. The loss in mass accompanying the formation of an atom from protons, neutrons, and electrons is due to the conversion of that mass into energy that is evolved as the atom forms. The nuclear binding energy is the energy produced when the atoms’ nucleons are bound...
14.7K
Histone Modification02:32

Histone Modification

The histone proteins have a flexible N-terminal tail extending out from the nucleosome. These histone tails are often subjected to post-translational modifications such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination. Particular combinations of these modifications form “histone codes” that influence the chromatin folding and tissue-specific gene expression.
Acetylation
The enzyme histone acetyltransferase adds acetyl group to the histones. Another enzyme, histone...
16.0K
Histone Variants at the Centromere02:30

Histone Variants at the Centromere

Histone variants are the histone proteins with structural and sequence variations. These variants may be regarded as “mutant” forms that replace their canonical histone counterparts in the nucleosomes. Specific post-translational modifications on the histone variants enable further chromatin complexity and regulate tissue-specific gene expression. The most common histone variants are from histone H2A, H2B, and linker histone H1 families. However, several variants of histone H3...
5.0K
Non-nuclear Inheritance01:29

Non-nuclear Inheritance

Most DNA resides in the nucleus of a cell. However, some organelles in the cell cytoplasm⁠—such as chloroplasts and mitochondria⁠—also have their own DNA. These organelles replicate their DNA independently of the nuclear DNA of the cell in which they reside. Non-nuclear inheritance describes the inheritance of genes from structures other than the nucleus.
23.0K
Nuclear Fusion02:45

Nuclear Fusion

The process of converting very light nuclei into heavier nuclei is also accompanied by the conversion of mass into large amounts of energy, a process called fusion. The principal source of energy in the sun is a net fusion reaction in which four hydrogen nuclei fuse and ultimately produce one helium nucleus and two positrons.
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
33.7K
Nuclear Fission02:50

Nuclear Fission

Many heavier elements with smaller binding energies per nucleon can decompose into more stable elements that have intermediate mass numbers and larger binding energies per nucleon—that is, mass numbers and binding energies per nucleon that are closer to the “peak” of the binding energy graph near 56. Sometimes neutrons are also produced. This decomposition of a large nucleus into smaller pieces is called fission. The breaking is rather random with the formation of a large...
12.3K