Edited by Ruma BanerjeeCytochrome c (cyt c) is a small hemoprotein involved in electron shuttling in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and is now also recognized as an important mediator of apoptotic cell death. Its role in inducing programmed cell death is closely associated with the formation of a complex with the mitochondrionspecific phospholipid cardiolipin (CL), leading to a gain of peroxidase activity. However, the molecular mechanisms behind this gain and eventual cyt c autoinactivation via its release from mitochondrial membranes remain largely unknown. Here, we examined the kinetics of the H 2 O 2 -mediated peroxidase activity of cyt c both in the presence and absence of tetraoleoyl cardiolipin (TOCL)-and tetralinoleoyl cardiolipin (TLCL)-containing liposomes to evaluate the role of cyt c-CL complex formation in the induction and stimulation of cyt c peroxidase activity. Moreover, we examined peroxide-mediated cyt c heme degradation to gain insights into the mechanisms by which cyt c self-limits its peroxidase activity. Bottom-up proteomics revealed >50 oxidative modifications on cyt c upon peroxide reduction. Of note, one of these by-products was the Tyr-based "cofactor" trihydroxyphenylalanine quinone (TPQ) capable of inducing deamination of Lys ⑀-amino groups and formation of the carbonylated product aminoadipic semialdehyde. In view of these results, we propose that autoinduced carbonylation, and thus removal of a positive charge in Lys, abrogates binding of cyt c to negatively charged CL. The proposed mechanism may be responsible for release of cyt c from mitochondrial membranes and ensuing inactivation of its peroxidase activity.Cytochrome c (cyt c) 4 was originally identified as an electron shuttle within the respiratory chain, essentially contributing to the aerobic pathway of oxidative phosphorylation. However, the single-chain hemoprotein is nowadays also known as a key mediator of apoptosis (1), making cyt c an important cornerstone of the cell fate. Upon apoptosis induction, the protein is released from the inner membrane space of the mitochondria to the cytosol where it binds to apoptosis-activating factor 1 (2), leading to caspase-9 activation (3) and subsequently apoptosis. Thereby, cyt c seems to actively contribute to this process, although the exact biochemical mechanisms for its release from the mitochondria are still under discussion.Although cyt c-mediated pore formation leading to outer mitochondrial membrane permeabilization was suggested (4), others did not observe a considerable unfolding and/or insertion of the protein into the outer mitochondrial membrane (5,6). Another mechanism proposed by Kagan et al. (7) links the release of cyt c at the early stage of apoptosis to the gain of a peroxidase activity by this protein. Cyt c binds to cardiolipin (CL), a mitochondrion-specific phospholipid, which redistributes from the inner to the outer mitochondrial membrane upon apoptosis onset (8 -10). This complex formation results in structural modifications of the protein that trigger...