Anti-mitochondrial autoantibodies of primary biliary cirrhosis as a novel probe in the study of the biosynthetic regulation of the yeast 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase complexes.

Autoantibodies present in the disease primary biliary cirrhosis react by immunoblotting with four major yeast mitochondrial antigens of 58 kDa, 55 kDa, 52 kDa and 45 kDa, tentatively identified as the lipoate acetyl transferases (E2) of the pyruvate dehydrogenase, component X of E2 pyruvate dehydrogenase, E2 of 2-oxo glutarate dehydrogenase and E2 of branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase complexes respectively. The synthesis of these antigens is sensitive to catabolite repression. The reactive antigens are present in mit- mutants of yeast which have specific defects in the mitochondrial apocytochrome b, cytochrome oxidase subunit II and H+ -ATPase subunits 8 and 9, and in mtDNA-less rho O petite mutants, but a significant increase in the sensitivity to catabolite repression was observed in these mutants in particular in the mtDNA-less strains.