Inhibition of 15-lipoxygenase leads to delayed organelle degradation in the reticulocyte

Mammalian cells are characterized by an endomembrane system. Nevertheless, some cells lose these membranes during their terminal differentiation, e.g. red blood cells and lens fiber cells of the eye. 15-Lipoxygenase is believed to be critical for this membrane degradation. Here ne use cultivated rabbit reticulocytes in the presence or absence of a lipoxygenase inhibitor to provide further evidence for the importance of 15-lipoxygenase for the in vivo degradation of mitochondria. We find that inhibitor treatment retarded mitochondrial degradation, as shown by persistence of marker proteins and by direct visualization of mitochondria by electron microscopy. (C) 2001 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.