Manon Stéphen
UMR5095 CNRS/Université de Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France.
Antioxid Redox Signal. 2004 Apr;6(2):259-67. doi: 10.1089/152308604322899323.
The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a powerful tool to investigate several aspects of the molecular mechanisms underlying programmed cell death, namely, the events involving mitochondria. Yeast has allowed new information to be gained about crucial aspects of the interaction between proapoptotic proteins Bax and Bid and mitochondria, namely, their addressing and insertion into the mitochondrial outer membrane and their ability to induce the relocalization of cytochrome c. Going one step further, the prooxidant effect of Bax can also be studied in yeast. Bax expression induces both the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lipid oxidation. Lipid oxidation is involved in Bax-induced cell death and may be required for optimal insertion of Bax in mitochondria. The easy modulation of lipid composition in yeast is a powerful tool to investigate this process further, and studies can be extended to other regulators of apoptosis, such as proapoptotic Bid or antiapoptotic Bcl-x(L). Also, yeast is a model for the study of other types of cell death, such as autophagy-related forms of death, for which a role of lipid oxidation has also been evidenced.
酿酒酵母是研究程序性细胞死亡潜在分子机制若干方面的有力工具，即涉及线粒体的事件。酵母使人们获得了关于促凋亡蛋白Bax和Bid与线粒体相互作用关键方面的新信息，即它们定位于线粒体外膜并插入其中的过程以及诱导细胞色素c重新定位的能力。更进一步，Bax的促氧化作用也可在酵母中进行研究。Bax的表达会诱导活性氧的积累和脂质氧化。脂质氧化参与了Bax诱导的细胞死亡，并且可能是Bax在线粒体中最佳插入所必需的。酵母中脂质组成的易于调节是进一步研究这一过程的有力工具，相关研究可以扩展到其他凋亡调节因子，如促凋亡的Bid或抗凋亡的Bcl-x(L)。此外，酵母还是研究其他类型细胞死亡（如自噬相关形式的死亡）的模型，脂质氧化在其中的作用也已得到证实。
