Date : 11.02.2005

Cells die with increased cytosolic ATP during apoptosis:
A bioluminescence study with intracellular luciferase

Category : Research Topic
 Division of Correlative Physiology
 

Abstract

It is well known that intracellular ATP depletion is associated with necrotic cell death. However, it is not known whether the level of intracellular ATP changes during the apoptotic process which requires energy. Thus, we made real-time continuous measurements of the cytosolic ATP level throughout the apoptotic process in a variety of cell types transfected with the firefly luciferase gene. Either mitochondrion- or death receptor-mediated apoptosis inducer induced significant elevation of the cytosolic ATP level. The higher ATP level remained during activation of caspase-3 and DNA fragmentation. When the ATP rise over the normal level was abolished by inhibition of glycolysis, both caspase activation and DNA laddering were completedly inhibited. Thus, this study, for the first time, demonstrated that cells die with increased cytosolic ATP, and elevation of cytosolic ATP level is a requisite to the apoptotic cell death process.

 

Published paper

Zamaraeva MV, Sabirov RZ, Maeno E, Ando-Akatsuka Y, Bessonava SV, Okada Y: Cells die with increased cytosolic ATP during apoptosis: A bioluminescence study with intracellular luciferase. Cell Death and Differentiation 2005, 12, 1390-1397.