Oxygen stress: a regulator of apoptosis in yeast

• Published in: The Journal of cell biology Vol. 145; no. 4; pp. 757 - 767
• Main Authors: Madeo, F, Frohlich, E, Ligr, M, Grey, M, Sigrist, S.J, Wolf, D.H, Frohlich, K.U
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Rockefeller University Press 17.05.1999; The Rockefeller University Press
• Subjects: Adenosine Triphosphatases; anaerobic conditions; Apoptosis; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; Biomarkers; Cell Cycle Proteins - genetics; Cell Cycle Proteins - metabolism; Cell death; Cell nucleus; Cells; Cellular biology; Chromatin; chromatin condensation; Cycloheximide - pharmacology; depletion; DNA conformation; DNA fragmentation; dna modification; Fluorescence; Free radicals; Fungal Proteins - genetics; Fungal Proteins - metabolism; glutathione; Glutathione - metabolism; hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen Peroxide - pharmacology; Microorganisms; Mutagenesis; Oxidative Stress; Oxygen; oxygen radicals; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Protein Synthesis Inhibitors - pharmacology; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - biosynthesis; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 - biosynthesis; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 - genetics; Reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Regular; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - cytology; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - drug effects; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; stress; Valosin Containing Protein; Yeast; Yeasts
• ISSN: 0021-9525; 1540-8140
• DOI: 10.1083/jcb.145.4.757

Oxygen radicals are important components of metazoan apoptosis. We have found that apoptosis can be induced in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by depletion of glutathione or by low external doses of H2O2. Cycloheximide prevents apoptotic death revealing active participation of the cell. Yeast can also be triggered into apoptosis by a mutation in CDC48 or by expression of mammalian bax. In both cases, we show oxygen radicals to accumulate in the cell, whereas radical depletion or hypoxia prevents apoptosis. These results suggest that the generation of oxygen radicals is a key event in the ancestral apoptotic pathway and offer an explanation for the mechanism of bax-induced apoptosis in the absence of any established apoptotic gene in yeast.