Direct Pressure Modulation Induces Oxidant Generation and Alters Electron Transport in Isolated Mitochondria
Joshua W. Lampe, Ming Yeh Lee and Lance. B. Becker
Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production is thought to play an important role in multiple conditions of health and disease. It has been demonstrated that local changes in force state induce mitochondrial ROS generation in vivo. The cellular mechanism that transduces the force change into a ROS biochemical signal is a matter of continued debate. We investigated the effect of hydrostatic pressure modulation on the efficiency of the mitochondrial electron transport in isolated rat liver and kidney mitochondria. Our data demonstrates that a physiologically relevant increase in pressure results in an increase in H2O2 production, and a reduction of cytochrome a3 (complex IV). These data suggest that mitochondria can independently function as biological mechanosensors.
Keywords: Mitochondria, mechanotransduction, micropressure