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Mitochondrial morphology and function impaired by dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl Formamide

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Abstract

In this work, the effects of two non-ionic, non-hydroxyl organic solvents, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethyl formamide (DMF) on the morphology and function of isolated rat hepatic mitochondria were investigated and compared. Mitochondrial ultrastructures impaired by DMSO and DMF were clearly observed by transmission electron microscopy. Spectroscopic and polarographic results demonstrated that organic solvents induced mitochondrial swelling, enhanced the permeation to H+/K+, collapsed the potential inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM), and increased the IMM fluidity. Moreover, with organic solvents addition, the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) was broken, accompanied with the release of Cytochrome c, which could activate cell apoptosis signaling pathway. The role of DMSO and DMF in enhancing permeation or transient water pore formation in the mitochondrial phospholipid bilayer might be the main reason for the mitochondrial morphology and function impaired. Mitochondrial dysfunctions induced by the two organic solvents were dose-dependent, but the extents varied. Ethanol (EtOH) showed the highest potential damage on the mitochondrial morphology and functions, followed by DMF and DMSO.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21463008, 21303126, 21573168, 21763005); the Foundation of State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (CMEMR2012-A10) and Guangxi Natural Science Foundation Program (No. 2012GXNSFBA053119).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Virology & Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biology and Medicine (MOE), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Long Ma & Yi Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources, School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Long Ma, Jia-Xin Dong, Wen-Rong Fu & Xue-Yi Li

  3. College of Life Science, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Chen

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  1. Long Ma
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Correspondence to Jia-Xin Dong or Yi Liu.

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Ma, L., Dong, JX., Fu, WR. et al. Mitochondrial morphology and function impaired by dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl Formamide. J Bioenerg Biomembr 50, 297–305 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10863-018-9759-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10863-018-9759-7

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