Formation of electrophilic oxidation products from mitochondrial cardiolipin in vitro and in vivo in the context of apoptosis and atherosclerosis

Emerging evidence indicates that mitochondrial cardiolipins (CL) are prone to free radical oxidation and this process appears to be intimately associated with multiple biological functions of mitochondria. Our previous work demonstrated that a significant amount of potent lipid electrophiles including 4-hydroxy-nonenal (4-HNE) was generated from CL oxidation through a novel chemical mechanism. Here we provide further evidence that a characteristic class of CL oxidation products, epoxyalcohol-aldehyde-CL (EAA-CL), is formed through this novel mechanism in isolated mice liver mitochondria when treated with the pro-apoptotic protein t-Bid to induce cyt c release. Generation of these oxidation products are dose-dependently attenuated by a peroxidase inhibitor acetaminophen (ApAP). Using a mouse model of atherosclerosis, we detected significant amount of these CL oxidation products in liver tissue of low density lipoprotein receptor knockout (LDLR −/−) mice after Western diet feeding. Our studies highlight the importance of lipid electrophiles formation from CL oxidation in the settings of apoptosis and atherosclerosis as inhibition of CL oxidation and lipid electrophiles formation may have potential therapeutic value in diseases linked to oxidant stress and mitochondrial dysfunctions.