This paper recalls the earlier work by Keilin, Margoliash and others at the beginning of the 20th century and shows how their results can be used for the rapid solution of new problems of modern science. It describes a rapid and simple spectrophotometric method for quantitative determination of cytochrome c release from isolated mitochondria or permeabilized cells induced by proapoptotic proteins. For this, the Soret (gamma) peak at 414 nm in the spectrum of cytochrome c is used. The results of spectrophotometric assay of cytochrome c release are in accord with those of oxygraphic determination of cytochrome c-dependent respiration of isolated mitochondria and permeabilized cardiomyocytes.

Bcl-XL is essential for the survival and normal maturation of erythroid cells, especially at the late stage of erythroid differentiation. It remains unclear whether Bcl-XL serves only as a survival factor for erythroid cells or if it can induce a signal for differentiation. We have previously shown that dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) induction of erythroid differentiation in murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells correlates with delay of apoptosis and specific induction of Bcl-XL. In this study, we investigate the contribution of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL to survival and erythroid differentiation by generating stable MEL transfectants expressing these antiapoptotic regulators. Overexpression of Bcl-2 completely prevented apoptosis of MEL cells before and after DMSO induction, whereas overexpression of Bcl-XL only delayed it. Overexpression of Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL neither induced spontaneous erythroid differentiation nor accelerated DMSO-induced differentiation. Inhibition of Bcl-XL by antisense transcripts accelerated apoptosis in DMSO-treated MEL cells and blocked the synthesis of hemoglobin without altering the growth arrest associated with terminal erythroid differentiation. An antisense oligonucleotide to Bcl-XL did not induce apoptosis in MEL cells overexpressing Bcl-2 but greatly decreased their hemoglobin synthesis when treated with DMSO, suggesting that Bcl-XL is necessary for erythroid differentiation independently of its antiapoptotic function. Importantly, Bcl-XL antisense transcripts prevented heme synthesis but not globin mRNA induction in DMSO-treated MEL cells. Furthermore, inhibition of hemoglobin synthesis by Bcl-XLantisense was reversed by addition of exogenous hemin. Finally, Bcl-XL localized to mitochondria during MEL erythroid differentiation, suggesting that it may mediate a critical mitochondrial transport function related to heme biosynthesis.