MitochondriallyTargetedEffectsofBerberine[NaturalYellow18,5,6-dihydro-9,10-dimethoxybenzo(g).doc

Mitochondrially Targeted Effects of Berberine [Natural Yellow 18, 5,6-dihydro-9,10-dimethoxybenzo(g)-1,3-benzodioxolo(5,6-a) quinolizinium] on K1735-M2 Mouse Melanoma Cells: Comparison with Direct Effects on Isolated Mitochondrial Fractions Gon?alo C. Pereira, Ana F. Branco, Júlio A. C. Matos, Sandro L. Pereira, Donna Parke, Edward L. Perkins, Teresa L. Serafim, Vilma A. Sard?o, Maria S. Santos, Antonio J. M. Moreno, Jon Holy and Paulo J. Oliveira + Author Affiliations Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (G.C.P., A.F.B., J.A.C.M., S.L.P., T.L.S., V.A.S., M.S.S., P.J.O.) and Institute for Marine Research (A.J.M.M.), Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; and Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (D.P., E.L.P.) and Anatomy, Microbiology and Pathology (J.H.), University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, Minnesota Address correspondence to:Dr. Paulo J. Oliveira, Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, P-3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal. E-mail: pauloliv@ci.uc.pt ? Next Section Abstract Berberine [Natural Yellow 18, 5,6-dihydro-9,10-dimethoxybenzo(g)-1,3-benzodioxolo(5,6-a)quinolizinium] is an alkaloid present in plant extracts and has a history of use in traditional Chinese and Native American medicine. Because of its ability to arrest the cell cycle and cause apoptosis of several malignant cell lines, it has received attention as a potential anticancer therapeutic agent. Previous studies suggest that mitochondria may be an important target of berberine, but relatively little is known about the extent or molecular mechanisms of berberine-mitochondrial interactions. The objective of the present work was to investigate the interaction of berberine with mitochondria, both in situ and in isolated mitochondrial fractions. The data show that berberine is selectively accumulated by mitochondria, which is accompanied by arrest of cell proliferation, mitochondrial fragmentatio