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- RE: Number of references to use of FCCP in Pub-Med Central
Editorial Correction:
Regarding the letter entitled “Ambiguous Effects of a Classical Uncoupler of Membrane Energy Transduction,” the statement that there are more than 104 references to the use of FCCP in the PMC (Pub-Med Central) should be changed to “…more than 10,000 such references in the PMC."
Competing Interests: None declared. - Ambiguous Effects of a Classical Uncoupler of Membrane Energy Transduction
Studies on phenomena in biological membranes dependent on effects of the compound FCCP, known to be an uncoupler of energy transduction in biological membranes, are reported frequently in Science (e. g., Pharmacological Modulation of Mitochondrial Calcium…,” Sci. Adv., May 6, 2020). Inferences about the role of energy coupling in the system were based on the well documented uncoupling effect of FCCP on membrane energy transduction. The literature, including the studies in Science, contains a large number of studies (more than 104 references in Pub Med Central) involving cellular or organelle response to FCCP or CCCP, derivatives of carbonyl cyanide phenylhydrazone, CCP (1). However, FCCP can also affect cell and organelle membrane structure. Cholesterol provides a precedent for such changes caused by a small aromatic membrane component (2). FCCP present in model membranes at low concentrations causes increased membrane viscosity (3). Thus, CCP compounds can affect membrane protein function by altering the membrane lipo-protein environment:
(1) Heytler, P. G. (1962) Biochemistry, 2, 357-361
(2) de Meyer, F., and B. Smit (2009) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U. S. A., 106: 3654-3658
(3) Helgerson, S. L., and W. A. Cramer (1977) Biochemistry 16: 4109-4117Competing Interests: None declared.
