Tissue- and species-specific differences in cytochrome c oxidase assembly induced by SURF1 defects

The crucial differences observed are an accumulation of abundant COX1 assembly intermediates, low content of COX monomer and preferential recruitment of COX into I-III2-IVn SCs in SURF1 patient fibroblasts, whereas SURF1−/− mouse fibroblasts were characterized by low content of COX1 assembly intermediates and milder decrease in COX monomer, which appeared more stable. This pattern was even less pronounced in SURF1−/− mouse liver and brain. Both the control and SURF1−/− mice revealed only negligible formation of the I-III2-IVn SCs and marked tissue differences in the contents of COX dimer and III2-IV SCs, also less noticeable in liver and brain than in heart and muscle. Our studies support the view that COX assembly is much more dependent on SURF1 in humans than in mice. We also demonstrate markedly lower ability of mouse COX to form I-III2-IVn supercomplexes, pointing to tissue-specific and species-specific differences in COX biogenesis.