A cholesterol analogue induces an oligomeric reorganization of VDAC

The oligomeric organization of the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) and its interactions with hexokinase play integral roles in mitochondrially mediated apoptotic signaling. Various small to large assemblies of VDAC are observed in mitochondrial outer membranes but they do not predominate in detergent solubilized VDAC samples. In this study, a cholesterol analogue, cholesteryl-hemisuccinate (CHS), was shown induce the formation of detergent soluble VDAC multimers. The various oligomeric states of VDAC induced by the addition of CHS were deciphered through an integrated biophysics approach using microscale thermophoresis, analytical ultracentrifugation and size exclusion chromatography-small angle X-ray scattering.

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