Vargas J L, Roche E, Knecht E, Aniento F, Grisolía S
Instituto de Investigaciones Citológicas de la Caja de Ahorros de Valencia, Centro asociado al Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Valencia, Spain.
FEBS Lett. 1988 Jun 20;233(2):259-62. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(88)80438-1.
The fluorescent dye rhodamine 123 (R123) decreases the intracellular ATP levels and also inhibits the degradation of short-lived proteins in isolated hepatocytes. This inhibition affects lysosomal and, to some extent, non-lysosomal mechanisms. The degradation of short-lived proteins decreases more when ATP levels are less than 40% of those in control cells, in contrast to the reported linear correlation between ATP levels and degradation of long-lived proteins. R123 provides a powerful probe for clarifying the proteolytic mechanisms involved in degradation of short-lived proteins and the ATP requirements in protein degradation. Indeed, as illustrated, the results suggest different mechanisms for the degradation of short- and long-lived proteins. Moreover, they provide a warning for the clinical use of this reagent.
