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General Comment |
Energy-generating processes in mitochondria produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage the organelle’s membrane lipids through oxidation. This process forms toxic lipids, termed lipid peroxides, which can trigger a type of cell death called ferroptosis. Mao et al.3 report the identification of a system that protects mitochondrial organelles. The enzyme DHODH converts the molecule ubiquinone to ubiquinol, which helps to combat the effects of lipid peroxidation and protects cells from ferroptosis.DHODH catalyses the conversion of the molecule dihydroorotate to orotate through an oxidation reaction that uses ubiquinone and thereby generates ubiquinol. Further experiments by Mao et al. revealed that DHODH protects cells against lipid peroxidation by regenerating ubiquinol, enabling ubiquinol-mediated repair of oxidative damage to mitochondrial lipids (Fig. 1).
NCBI Summary:
The protein encoded by this gene catalyzes the fourth enzymatic step, the ubiquinone-mediated oxidation of dihydroorotate to orotate, in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. This protein is a mitochondrial protein located on the outer surface of the inner mitochondrial membrane. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
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