Biology subjects

Ebanks, B.

Publications and source records attributed to Ebanks, B..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

A method to assess the mitochondrial respiratory capacity of complexes I and II from frozen tissue using the Oroboros O2k-FluoRespirometer

High-resolution respirometry methods allow for the assessment of oxygen consumption by the electron transfer systems within cells, tissue samples, and isolated mitochondrial preparations. As mitochondrial integrity is compromised by the process of cryopreservation, these methods have been limited to fresh samples. Here we present a simple method to assess the activity of mitochondria respiratory complexes I and II in previously cryopreserved murine skeletal muscle tissue homogenates, as well as previously frozen D. melanogaster, as a function of oxygen consumption.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Sequence and structure comparison of ATP synthase F0 subunits 6 and 8 in notothenioid fish.

The Channichthyidae family (icefish) are the only known vertebrate species to be devoid of haemoglobin. Mitochondrial changes such as tight coupling of the mitochondria have facilitated sustained oxygen and respiratory activity in the fish. This makes it important to appreciate features in the sequence and structure of the proteins directly involved in proton transport, which could have physiological implications. ATP synthase subunit a (ATP6) and subunit 8 (ATP8) are proteins that function as part of the F0 component (proton pump) of the F0F1complex. Both are encoded by the mitochondrial genome and involved in oxidative phosphorylation. To explore mitochondrial sequence variation for ATP6 and ATP8 we have gathered sequences and predicted structures of these two proteins of fish from the Notothenioidei sub-order, a sub-Antarctic species. We compared these with seven other vertebrate species in order to reveal whether there might be physiologically important differences that can help us to understand the unique biology of the icefish.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The dysregulated Pink1- Drosophila mitochondrial proteome is partially corrected with exercise.

One of the genes which has been linked to the onset of juvenile/early onset Parkinsons disease (PD) is PINK1. There is evidence that supports the therapeutic potential of exercise in the alleviation of PD symptoms. It is possible that exercise may enhance synaptic plasticity, protect against neuro-inflammation and modulate L-Dopa regulated signalling pathways. We explored the effects of exercise on Pink1 deficient Drosophila melanogaster which undergo neurodegeneration and muscle degeneration. We used a power-tower type exercise platform to deliver exercise activity to Pink1- and age matched wild-type flies. Mitochondrial proteomic profiles responding to exercise were obtained. Of the 516 proteins identified, 105 proteins had different levels between Pink1- and wild-type (WT) non-exercised D. melanogaster. Gene ontology enrichment analysis and STRING network analysis highlighted proteins and pathways with altered expression within the mitochondrial proteome. Comparison of the Pink1- exercised proteome to WT proteomes showed that exercising the Pink1- flies caused their proteomic profile to return towards wild-type levels.

cell biology↗