Rabbit Anti-Human NDUFS4 Polyclonal antibody

The NDUFS4 subunit of complex I of the mammalian respiratory chain has a fully conserved carboxy-terminus with a canonical RVSTK phosphorylation site. Immunochemical analysis with specific antibodies shows that the serine in this site of the protein is natively present in complex I in both the phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated state. Two-dimensional IEF/SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, P-32 labelling and immunodetection show that "in vitro" PKA phosphorylates the serine in the C-terminus of the NDUFS4 subunit in isolated bovine complex I. P-32 labelling and TLC phosphoaminoacid mapping show that PKA phosphorylates serine and threonine residues in the purified heterologous human NDUFS4 protein. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. and Mitochondria Research Society. All rights reserved.

An enigma of modern medicine has persisted for over 150 years. The mechanisms by which volatile anesthetics (VAs) produce their effects (loss of consciousness, analgesia, amnesia, and immobility) remain an unsolved mystery. Many attractive putative molecular targets have failed to produce a significant effect when genetically tested in whole-animal models [1-3]. However, mitochondrial defects increase VA sensitivity in diverse organisms from nematodes to humans [4-6]. Ndufs4 knockout (KO) mice lack a subunit of mitochondria! complex I and are strikingly hypersensitive to VAs yet resistant to the intravenous anesthetic ketamine [7]. The change in VA sensitivity is the largest reported for a mammal. Limiting NDUFS4 loss to a subset of glutamatergic neurons recapitulates the VA hypersensitivity of Ndufs4(KO) mice, while loss in GABAergic or cholinergic neurons does not. Baseline electrophysiologic function of CA1 pyramidal neurons does not differ between Ndufs4(KO) and control mice. Isoflurane concentrations that anesthetize only Ndufs4(KO) mice (0.6%) decreased the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) only in Ndufs4(KO) CA1 neurons, while concentrations effective in control mice (1.2%) decreased sEPSC frequencies in both control and Ndufs4(KO) CA1 pyramidal cells. Spontaneous inhibitory post synaptic currents (sIPSCs) were not differentially affected between genotypes. The effects of isoflurane were similar on evoked field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) and paired pulse facilitation (PPF) in KO and control hippocampal slices. We propose that CA1 presynaptic excitatory neurotransmission is hypersensitive to isoflurane in Ndufs4(KO) mice due to the inhibition of pre-existing reduced complex I function, reaching a critical reduction that can no longer meet metabolic demands.