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Review
. 2024 Feb 18;25(4):2410.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25042410.

The Structure of the Cardiac Mitochondria Respirasome Is Adapted for the β-Oxidation of Fatty Acids

Affiliations
Review

The Structure of the Cardiac Mitochondria Respirasome Is Adapted for the β-Oxidation of Fatty Acids

Alexander V Panov. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

It is well known that in the heart and kidney mitochondria, more than 95% of ATP production is supported by the β-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids. However, the β-oxidation of fatty acids by mitochondria has been studied much less than the substrates formed during the catabolism of carbohydrates and amino acids. In the last few decades, several discoveries have been made that are directly related to fatty acid oxidation. In this review, we made an attempt to re-evaluate the β-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids from the perspectives of new discoveries. The single set of electron transporters of the cardiac mitochondrial respiratory chain is organized into three supercomplexes. Two of them contain complex I, a dimer of complex III, and two dimers of complex IV. The third, smaller supercomplex contains a dimer of complex III and two dimers of complex IV. We also considered other important discoveries. First, the enzymes of the β-oxidation of fatty acids are physically associated with the respirasome. Second, the β-oxidation of fatty acids creates the highest level of QH2 and reverses the flow of electrons from QH2 through complex II, reducing fumarate to succinate. Third, β-oxidation is greatly stimulated in the presence of succinate. We argue that the respirasome is uniquely adapted for the β-oxidation of fatty acids. The acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex reduces the membrane's pool of ubiquinone to QH2, which is instantly oxidized by the smaller supercomplex, generating a high energization of mitochondria and reversing the electron flow through complex II, which reverses the electron flow through complex I, increasing the NADH/NAD+ ratio in the matrix. The mitochondrial nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase catalyzes a hydride (H-, a proton plus two electrons) transfer across the inner mitochondrial membrane, reducing the cytosolic pool of NADP(H), thus providing the heart with ATP for muscle contraction and energy and reducing equivalents for the housekeeping processes.

Keywords: heart mitochondria; oxidative phosphorylation; respirasome; respiratory chain; tricarboxylic acid cycle; ubiquinol; ubiquinone; β-oxidation of fatty acids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic presentation of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and ATP synthase. Mitochondrial pathways of electron flow resulting from the substrates and inhibitors used in this study. The substrates used were glutamate/malate (which generates NADH via the tricarboxylic acid cycle, feeding into complex I), succinate (which feeds electrons directly into complex II), and palmitoyl-carnitine (which feeds electrons into the ETC via acyl-CoA dehydrogenase as well as through the β-oxidation pathway). The inhibitors used were rotenone, which inhibits complex I at the downstream Q binding site, malonate (a competitive inhibitor of complex II), and antimycin A (a complex III inhibitor that prevents electron flow to the QI site of complex III), thus stabilizing QH* at the QO. The figure was adapted from [17].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic presentation of the respirasome. View from the matrix side on the two large supercomplexes and one smaller supercomplex. Complexes I, III, and IV are integral proteins. They penetrate the inner membrane and work as proton pumps. The figure is based on the data presented in [5]. Figure 6 and Figure 9 show more clearly how the respirasome’s supercomplexes might integrate into the inner membrane of mitochondria.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A schematic model of organizing respiratory chain supercomplexes into a respirasome and then to the respiratory string. The basic unit (lower left) consists of two copies of complex I (blue), one copy of complex III2 (red), and two copies of complex IV (yellow). The figure was adapted from [19].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Structure of the mitochondrial OXPHOS system and cristae membrane illustrating a proton transfer pathway. (A) The cluster of components of the OXPHOS system at the bends of the cristae of heart mitochondria. Yellow—ATP synthase dimers; blue—complex I; purple—complex III dimers; green—complex IV; and grey—lipid membrane. (B) A dedicated direction of proton transfer between rows of proton pumps and ATP synthases. (C) Schematic reconstruction of the cluster in the OXPHOS system on the membrane fold and a pathway of the lateral transfer of protons from the respirasome to ATP synthase. The area of increased curvature of the membrane is enriched with CL molecules. The figure was adapted from [21].
Figure 5
Figure 5
The sequence of reactions of formation of the trans-double bond between C-2 and C-3 thioesters of fatty acids and reduction of ubiquinone during the work of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Without β-oxidation of fatty acids, succinate dehydrogenase is the only source of ubiquinol, and the mitochondrial metabolism becomes predominantly catabolic. Designations: Q—ubiquinone, the oxidized form of coenzyme Q; QH2—ubiquinol, the reduced form of coenzyme Q. The figure was adapted from [13].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Oxidation by rat heart mitochondria of major substrates: (A) pyruvate 2.5 mM+ malate 2 mM; (B) glutamate 5 mM + malate; (C) glutamate + pyruvate + malate; (D) succinate 5 mM, no rotenone; (E) succinate + glutamate; (F) palmitoyl-carnitine 25 µM. Incubation conditions and experimental details are described in [14]. Additions: ADP 150 µM, CCCP 0.5 µM, rat heart mitochondria 0.3 mg, provide only (dithiothreitol) 10 µL of saturated solution. The figure was adapted from [34].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Oxidation by rat heart mitochondria palmitoyl-carnitine in the presence of supporting substrates: (A) palmitoyl-carnitine 25 µM + succinate 5 mM; (B) palmitoyl-carnitine 25 µM + pyruvate 2.5 mM + malate 2 mM; (C) palmitoyl-carnitine 25 µM + glutamate 5 mM + malate 2 mM. The figure was adapted from [34].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Functioning of respirasome and the Krebs Cycle during active β-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids. Abbreviations: Acyl-CoA DHC—acyl-CoA dehydrogenase complex, which includes three enzymes: acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF), electron-transferring-flavoprotein dehydrogenase (ETFDH); PEP—phosphoenolpyruvate; TFP—trifunctional protein of the β-oxidation of fatty acids system; SDH—succinate dehydrogenase; Q—ubiquinone, oxidized form of coenzyme Q; QH2—ubiquinol, reduced form of coenzyme Q. The figure adapted from [13].

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