The mitochondrial carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier is regulated by hydrogen sulfide via interaction with C136 and C155

Background The carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier (CAC or CACT) mediates transport of acylcarnitines into mitochondria for the β-oxidation. CAC possesses Cys residues which respond to redox changes undergoing to SH/disulfide interconversion. Methods The effect of H2S has been investigated on the [3H]carnitine/carnitine antiport catalyzed by recombinant or native CAC reconstituted in proteoliposomes. Site-directed mutagenesis was employed for identifying Cys reacting with H2S. Results H2S led to transport inhibition, which was dependent on concentration, pH and time of incubation. Best inhibition with IC50 of 0.70 μM was observed at physiological pH after 30-60 min incubation. At longer times of incubation, inhibition was reversed. After oxidation of the carrier by O2, transport activity was rescued by H2S indicating that the inhibition/activation depends on the initial redox state of the protein. The observed effects were more efficient on the native rat liver transporter than on the recombinant protein. Only the protein containing both C136 and C155 responded to the reagent as the WT. While reduced responses were observed in the mutants containing C136 or C155. Multi-alignment of known mitochondrial carriers, highlighted that only the CAC possesses both Cys residues. This correlates well with the absence of effects of H2S on carriers which does not contain the Cys couple. Conclusions Altogether, these data demonstrate that H2S regulates the CAC by inhibiting or activating transport on the basis of the redox state of the protein. General significance CAC represents a specific target of H2S among mitochondrial carriers in agreement with the presence of a reactive Cys couple.