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* Department of Pharmacology, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, New York, USA; and
Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry,
Department of Clinical Laboratories, and
Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA
1 Correspondence: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Box 451, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY 10021, USA. E-mail: jcarcamo{at}enzobio.com
Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced mitochondrial abnormalities may have important consequences in the pathogenesis of degenerative diseases and cancer. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant known to quench ROS, but its mitochondrial transport and functions are poorly understood. We found that the oxidized form of vitamin C, dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), enters mitochondria via facilitative glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) and accumulates mitochondrially as ascorbic acid (mtAA). The stereo-selective mitochondrial uptake of D-glucose, with its ability to inhibit mitochondrial DHA uptake, indicated the presence of mitochondrial Glut. Computational analysis of N-termini of human Glut isoforms indicated that Glut1 had the highest probability of mitochondrial localization, which was experimentally verified via mitochondrial expression of Glut1-EGFP. In vitro mitochondrial import of Glut1, immunoblot analysis of mitochondrial proteins, and cellular immunolocalization studies indicated that Glut1 localizes to mitochondria. Loading mitochondria with AA quenched mitochondrial ROS and inhibited oxidative mitochondrial DNA damage. mtAA inhibited oxidative stress resulting from rotenone-induced disruption of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and prevented mitochondrial membrane depolarization in response to a protonophore, CCCP. Our results show that analogous to the cellular uptake, vitamin C enters mitochondria in its oxidized form via Glut1 and protects mitochondria from oxidative injury. Since mitochondria contribute significantly to intracellular ROS, protection of the mitochondrial genome and membrane may have pharmacological implications against a variety of ROS-mediated disorders.KC, S., Cárcamo, J. M., Golde, D. W. Vitamin C enters mitochondria via facilitative glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) and confers mitochondrial protection against oxidative injury.
Key Words: ROS oxidative stress DNA damage antioxidants cellular redox
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