Caspase-8 (red) normally homes in on mitochondria (green) but diffuses widely when mature cardiolipin is absent (right).

Before they can get down to killing a cell, apoptosis-promoting caspase-8 enzymes must socialize. Gonzalvez et al. reveal that a mitochondrial lipid provides a gathering place where the enzymes can mingle.

After receiving an external death signal, cells can commit suicide in several ways. In one mechanism, inactive copies of caspase-8 gather at the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) on the cell membrane. There, the molecules combine and cut one another, becoming active enzymes.

But in an alternative mechanism, Gonzalvez et al. showed that caspase-8 migrates to the mitochondria instead of combining at the DISC. While probing the function of cardiolipin, a mitochondrial membrane lipid, Gonzalvez et al. discovered how caspase-8 molecules meet up at this organelle.

The researchers tested cells from patients with Barth syndrome, a rare genetic disorder in which the functional form of cardiolipin is scarce. The cells survived treatment with apoptosis-triggering molecules such as TNFα. Without mature cardiolipin, caspase-8 doesn't embed in the mitochondrial membrane and doesn't get activated, the scientists found.

Cardiolipin seems to serve as the mitochondrial equivalent of the DISC, a platform where caspase-8 molecules can collect and undergo the modifications necessary for activation. Still unclear is what signal directs caspase-8 to the mitochondria and whether other caspases also travel to the organelles to be switched on.

Gonzalvez, F., et al.
2008
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J. Cell Biol.
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