ИСТИНА

During the last 15 years there has been accumulated a large body of knowledge on beneficial effects of the antibiotic minocycline in various models of neurological disorders. Nevertheless, a mechanism of minocycline-induced inhibition of cytochrome c release from mitochondria, reported in 2002, is not well understood at present. It is widely accepted that peroxidase activity of cytochrome c, strongly stimulated upon its interaction with cardiolipin, plays a significant role in promoting the release of this protein from mitochondria to cytosol in the course of apoptosis initiation. Previously peroxidase activity of cytochrome c has been shown to cause permeabilization of artificial cardiolipin-containing lipid vesicles. Here we will report data on the impact of minocycline on both cytochrome c peroxidase activity, as measured by luminol chemiluminescence, and liposome permeabilization induced by the combination of cytochrome c with hydrogen peroxide, as assayed by leakage of fluorescent dyes from liposomes. The substantial suppression of cytochrome c-induced liposome permeabilization by minocycline could be of relevance to the inhibiting effect of this antibiotic on cytochrome c release from mitochondria, playing a crucial role in apoptosis.