Amphiphilic β‐sheet cobra cardiotoxin targets mitochondria and disrupts its network
Chia-Hui WangDepartment of Life Sciences, Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology, National Tsinghua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanWen‐guey WuDepartment of Life Sciences, Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology, National Tsinghua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
2005en
ABI
Abstract
Recent advance in understanding the role of toxin proteins in controlling cell death has revealed that pro-apoptotic viral proteins targeting mitochondria contain amphiphilic alpha-helices with pore-forming properties. Herein, we describe that the pore-forming amphiphilic beta-sheet cardiotoxins (or cytotoxins, CTXs) from Taiwan cobra (Naja atra) also target mitochondrial membrane after internalization and act synergistically with CTX-induced cytosolic calcium increase to disrupt mitochondria network. It is suggested that CTX-induced fragmentation of mitochondria play a role in controlling CTX-induced necrosis of myocytes and cause severe tissue necrosis in the victims.
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