In memoriam of Bernhard Kadenbach: Although the main focus of his research was the structure, function, and regulation of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (CytOx), he earlier studied the mitochondrial phosphate carrier and found an essential role of cardiolipin. Later, he discovered tissue-specific and developmental-specific protein isoforms of CytOx. Defective activity of CytOx is found with increasing age in human muscle and neuronal cells resulting in mitochondrial diseases. Kadenbach proposed a theory on the cause of oxidative stress, aging, and associated diseases stating that allosteric feedback inhibition of CytOx at high mitochondrial ATP/ADP ratios is essential for healthy living while stress-induced reversible dephosphorylation of CytOx results in the formation of excessive reactive oxygen species that trigger degenerative diseases. This article summarizes the main discoveries of Kadenbach related to mammalian CytOx and discusses their implications for human disease.

缅怀 Bernhard Kadenbach：尽管他的主要研究重点是线粒体细胞色素c的结构、功能和调控氧化酶（CytOx），他早先研究了线粒体磷酸盐载体，发现了心磷脂的重要作用。后来，他发现了 CytOx 的组织特异性和发育特异性蛋白质亚型。随着人体肌肉和神经元细胞年龄的增长，发现 CytOx 的活性缺陷会导致线粒体疾病。Kadenbach 提出了关于氧化应激、衰老和相关疾病原因的理论，指出在高线粒体 ATP/ADP 比率下对 CytOx 的变构反馈抑制对健康生活至关重要，而应激诱导的 CytOx 可逆去磷酸化导致过度反应性的形成引发退行性疾病的氧物质。本文总结了 Kadenbach 与哺乳动物 CytOx 相关的主要发现，并讨论了它们对人类疾病的影响。