BAX is a pro-apoptotic protein of the BCL-2 family stationed in the cytosol until activated by a diversity of stress stimuli to induce cell death. Anti-apoptotic proteins such as BCL-2 counteract BAX-mediated cell death. Although an interaction site that confers survival functionality has been defined for anti-apoptotic proteins, an activation site has not been identified for BAX, rendering its explicit trigger mechanism unknown. We previously developed Stabilized Alpha-Helix of BCL-2 domains (SAHBs) that directly initiate BAX-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis. Here we demonstrate by NMR analysis that BIM SAHB binds BAX at an interaction site that is distinct from the canonical binding groove characterized for anti-apoptotic proteins. The specificity of the BIM SAHB-BAX interaction is highlighted by point mutagenesis that abrogates functional activity, confirming that BAX activation is initiated at this novel structural location. Thus, we have now defined a BAX interaction site for direct activation, establishing a new target for therapeutic modulation of apoptosis.

Apoptosis is stimulated by the insertion of Bax from the cytosol into mitochondrial membranes. The solution structure of Bax, including the putative transmembrane domain at the C terminus, was determined in order to understand the regulation of its subcellular location. Bax consists of 9 alpha helices where the assembly of helices alpha1 through alpha 8 resembles that of the apoptosis inhibitor, Bcl-x(L). The C-terminal alpha 9 helix occupies the hydrophobic pocket proposed previously to mediate heterodimer formation and bioactivity of opposing members of the Bcl-2 family. The Bax structure shows that the orientation of helix alpha 9 provides simultaneous control over its mitochondrial targeting and dimer formation.

Summary The Bcl-2 family member Bax translocates from the cytosol to mitochondria where it oligomerizes and permeabilizes the mitochondrial outer membrane to promote apoptosis. Bax activity is counteracted by pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins, but how they inhibit Bax remains controversial, because they neither co-localize nor form stable complexes with Bax. We constrained Bax in its native cytosolic conformation within cells using intramolecular disulfide tethers. Bax tethers disrupt interaction with Bcl-xL in detergents and cell free MOMP activity, but unexpectedly induce Bax accumulation on mitochondria. Fluorescence Loss in Photobleaching (FLIP) reveals constant retrotranslocation of wt Bax, but not tethered Bax, from the mitochondria into the cytoplasm of healthy cells. Bax retrotranslocation depends on pro-survival Bcl-2 family proteins and inhibition of retrotranslocation correlates with Bax accumulation on the mitochondria. We propose that Bcl-xL inhibits and maintains Bax in the cytosol by constant retrotranslocation of mitochondrial Bax.

Fis1 in yeast localizes to the outer mitochondrial membrane and facilitates mitochondrial fission by forming protein complexes with Dnm1 and Mdv1. Fis1 orthologs exist in higher eukaryotes, suggesting that they are functionally conserved. In the present study, we cloned the human Fis1 ortholog that was predicted in a database, and determined the protein structure using NMR spectroscopy. Following a flexible N-terminal tail, six alpha-helices connected with short loops construct a single core domain. The C-terminal tail containing a transmembrane segment appears to be disordered. In the core domain, each of two sequentially adjacent helices forms a hairpin-like conformation, resulting in a six helix assembly forming a slightly twisted slab similar to that of a tandem array of tetratrico-peptide repeat (TPR) motif folds. Within this TPR-like core domain, no significant sequence similarity to the typical TPR motif is found. The structural analogy to the TPR-containing proteins suggests that Fis1 binds to other proteins at its concave hydrophobic surface. A simple composition of Fis1 comprised of a binding domain and a transmembrane segment indicates that the protein may function as a molecular adaptor on the mitochondrial outer membrane. In HeLa cells, however, increased levels in mitochondria-associated Fis1 did not result in mitochondrial translocation of Drp1, a potential binding partner of Fis1 implicated in the regulation of mitochondrial fission, suggesting that the interaction between Drp1 and Fis1 is regulated.

During apoptosis, cytochrome c is released from mitochondria into the cytosol, where it participates in caspase activation. Various and often conflicting mechanisms have been proposed to account for the increased permeability of the mitochondrial outer membrane that is responsible for this process. The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is the major permeability pathway for metabolites in the mitochondrial outer membrane and therefore is a very attractive candidate for cytochrome c translocation. Here, we report that properties of VDAC channels reconstituted into planar phospholipid membranes are unaffected by addition of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax under a variety of conditions. Contrary to other reports (Shimizu, S., Narita, M., and The crucial role of mitochondria in the initiation of apoptosis is well established. Triggered by a number of different stimuli, the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM) 1 becomes permeable to apoptogenic factors such as cytochrome c and Smac/ DIABLO (4, 5). The release of these factors leads to caspase activation, DNA fragmentation, and other characteristic changes associated with apoptotic cell death. So far, it remains unclear exactly how MOM permeabilization occurs, and published results are often contradictory (for reviews, see Refs. 6 -8).The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulates the permeabilization of MOM. Pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bax and Bid induce the release of apoptogenic factors, whereas anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-x L prevent their release. There are two prevailing theories for the permeabilization of the outer membrane. One is that MOM is nonspecifically ruptured; the other proposes the formation of channels that allow cytochrome c release (6, 7).One of the channel models is based on the ability of Bax to form channels when incorporated into lipid membranes (9, 10). It has been reported that Bax can form oligomers of multiple sizes that have features of ion channels large enough to release cytochrome c (11). Soluble monomeric Bax is not capable of forming channels in lipid membranes and does not trigger the release of cytochrome c from isolated mitochondria (11). Thus, channel formation is associated with the formation of oligomers. Bax oligomerization has been proposed to be triggered by the BH3 domain-only protein Bid after cleavage by caspase-8 into the truncated form, tBid (12, 13). However, the situation has been complicated by a recent report that tBid itself homopolymerizes, and this process, without the participation of Bax, results in the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria (14). In addition, it has been observed that tBid promotes leakage in planar lipid membranes and liposomes in the absence of other proteins (15)(16)(17). In all these studies, the channel/pore-forming ability was attributed to Bax and Bid; however, it is still an open question whether such channels are formed in vivo.There are two other channel models that associate the Bcl-2 family proteins with the existing major channel in MOM, the voltage-dependent anion...

Mitochondrial fission is facilitated by a multiprotein complex assembled at the division site. The required components of the fission machinery in Saccharomyces cerevisiae include Dnm1, Fis1, and Mdv1. In the present study, we determined the protein structure of yeast

BH3 (Bcl-2 homology 3)-only proteins of the Bcl-2 family activate Bax or Bak during apoptosis to promote the release of pro-death factors sequestered in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. Previous results demonstrated that a synthetic BH3 peptide mimics the ability of the BH3-only protein Bid to promote Bax insertion and cytochrome c (cyt c) release from neural cell mitochondria. However, the BH3 peptide was deficient in promoting cyt c release from mitochondria without associated Bax, such as adult rat brain mitochondria. This study tested the hypothesis that the amphiphilic membrane-active cationic drugs dibucaine and propranolol block BH3 peptide-initiated cyt c efflux by preventing the integration of Bax into the mitochondrial outer membrane. BH3 peptide-initiated release of cyt c from GT1-7 neural cell mitochondria was inhibited by dibucaine and propranolol at concentrations of 100-300 microm. Recombinant Bax (100 nm) alone did not release cyt c from adult rat brain mitochondria; however, when BH3 peptide or caspase-8 cleaved Bid (cBid) was added, robust cyt c release was achieved that was inhibited completely by 200 microm dibucaine or propranolol. These drugs at similar concentrations also inhibited release of entrapped 10 kDa dextrans from protein-free liposomes treated with Bax and cBid. Contrary to the hypothesis that dibucaine and propranolol act by inhibiting the insertion of Bax into the mitochondrial outer membrane, membrane insertion of Bax was not inhibited in mitochondria or liposomes, indicating a mechanism of drug action downstream from this event. These results suggest that dibucaine and propranolol inhibit Bax-induced permeability changes through a direct interaction with the lipid membrane and present a novel target for the development of neuroprotective, antiapoptotic therapeutics.

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