Apoptosis-Inducing Factor: Structure, Function, and Redox Regulation

Apoptosis-inducing factor

Although the seminal paper by Kerr, Wyllie and Currie (Kerr et al., 1972), who coined the word ‘apoptosis’, stated that only nuclei but not cytoplasmic organelles would undergo major modifications in the dying cell, recent evidence suggests that no cellular compartment is spared (Ferri and Kroemer, 2001). Mitochondria are particularly affected early during the apoptotic process, and they are no...

Regulation of cytoplasmic stress granules by apoptosis-inducing factor.

Stress granules (SG) are dynamic cytoplasmic foci in which stalled translation initiation complexes accumulate. In conditions of acute cellular redox, stress cells manipulated to lose the expression of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) nucleate SG signature proteins (e.g. TIA-1, PABP1) more efficiently than AIF-positive controls. AIF also inhibited SG formation induced by the RasGAP-associated en...

Apoptosis-Inducing Factor Regulates Death

vital functions of apoptosis inducing factor (aif)

in many models of programmed cell death, the mitochondrial protein aif translocates to the nucleus, where it induces the chromatin condensation and dna degradation. however, today it is well established that this flavoprotein is bifunctional. in addition to its lethal function in the nucleus of dying cells, aif plays a vital bioenergetic role in healthy ones by regulating mainly the activity of...

Dissociating the dual roles of apoptosis-inducing factor in maintaining mitochondrial structure and apoptosis.

The mitochondrial protein apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) translocates to the nucleus and induces apoptosis. Recent studies, however, have indicated the importance of AIF for survival in mitochondria. In the absence of a means to dissociate these two functions, the precise roles of AIF remain unclear. Here, we dissociate these dual roles using mitochondrially anchored AIF that cannot be release...