bims-mikwok Biomed News
on Mitochondrial quality control
Issue of 2022–04–24
nine papers selected by
Avinash N. Mukkala, University of Toronto



  1. Physiol Rep. 2022 Apr;10(8): e15281
      Mitochondria in the skeletal muscle are essential for maintaining metabolic plasticity and function. Mitochondrial quality control encompasses the dynamics of the biogenesis and remodeling of mitochondria, characterized by the constant fission and fusion of mitochondria in response to metabolic stressors. However, the roles of mitochondrial fission or fusion in muscle hypertrophy and atrophy remain unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether mitochondrial fusion and fission events are influenced by muscle hypertrophy or atrophy stimulation. Twenty-six male F344 rats were randomly assigned to a control group or were subjected to up to 14 days of either plantaris overload (via tenotomy of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles; hypertrophy group) or hindlimb cast immobilization (atrophy group). After 14 days of treatment, plantaris muscle samples were collected to determine the expression levels of mitochondrial fusion- and fission-related proteins. Muscle weight and total muscle protein content increased following plantaris overload in the hypertrophy group, but decreased following immobilization for 14 days in the atrophy group. In the hypertrophied muscle, the level of activated dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), phosphorylated at Ser616, significantly increased by 25.8% (p = 0.014). Moreover, the protein expression level of mitochondrial fission factor significantly decreased by 36.5% in the hypertrophy group compared with that of the control group (p = 0.017). In contrast, total Drp1 level significantly decreased in the atrophied plantaris muscle (p = 0.011). Our data suggest that mitochondrial fission events may be influenced by both muscle hypertrophy and atrophy stimulation, and that mitochondrial fission- related protein Drp1 plays an important role in the regulation of skeletal muscle in response to mechanical stimulation.
    Keywords:  Drp1; atrophy; hypertrophy; mitochondrial quality control
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.15281
  2. Mol Metab. 2022 Apr 19. pii: S2212-8778(22)00072-2. [Epub ahead of print] 101503
       OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial "retrograde" signaling may stimulate organelle biogenesis as a compensatory adaptation to aberrant activity of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system. To maintain energy-consuming processes in OXPHOS deficient cells, alternative metabolic pathways are functionally coupled to the degradation, recycling and redistribution of biomolecules across distinct intracellular compartments. While transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial network expansion has been the focus of many studies, the molecular mechanisms promoting mitochondrial maintenance in energy-deprived cells remain poorly investigated.
    METHODS: We performed transcriptomics, quantitative proteomics and lifespan assays to identify pathways that are mechanistically linked to mitochondrial network expansion and homeostasis in Caenorhabditis elegans lacking the mitochondrial calcium uptake protein 1 (MICU-1/MICU1). To support our findings, we carried out biochemical and image analyses in mammalian cells and mouse-derived tissues.
    RESULTS: We report that micu-1(null) mutations impair the OXPHOS system and promote C. elegans longevity through a transcriptional program that is independent of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter MCU-1/MCU and the essential MCU regulator EMRE-1/EMRE. We identify sphingosine phosphate lyase SPL-1/SGPL1 and the ATFS-1-target HOPS complex subunit VPS-39/VPS39 as critical lifespan modulators of micu-1(null) mutant animals. Cross-species investigation indicates that SGPL1 upregulation stimulates VPS39 recruitment to the mitochondria, thereby enhancing mitochondria-lysosome contacts. Consistently, VPS39 downregulation compromises mitochondrial network maintenance and basal autophagic flux in MICU1 deficient cells. In mouse-derived muscles, we show that VPS39 recruitment to the mitochondria may represent a common signature associated with altered OXPHOS system.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal a previously unrecognized SGPL1/VPS39 axis that stimulates intracellular organelle interactions and sustains autophagy and mitochondrial homeostasis in OXPHOS deficient cells.
    Keywords:  Caenorhabditis elegans; MICU1; VPS39; autophagy; longevity; mitochondria; sphingosine signaling
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmet.2022.101503
  3. J Cell Biol. 2022 Jun 06. pii: e202104076. [Epub ahead of print]221(6):
      Tail-anchored (TA) membrane proteins have a potential risk to be mistargeted to the mitochondrial outer membrane (OM). Such mislocalized TA proteins can be extracted by the mitochondrial AAA-ATPase Msp1 from the OM and transferred to the ER for ER protein quality control involving ubiquitination by the ER-resident Doa10 complex. Yet it remains unclear how the extracted TA proteins can move to the ER crossing the aqueous cytosol and whether this transfer to the ER is essential for the clearance of mislocalized TA proteins. Here we show by time-lapse microscopy that mislocalized TA proteins, including an authentic ER-TA protein, indeed move from mitochondria to the ER in a manner strictly dependent on Msp1 expression. The Msp1-dependent mitochondria-to-ER transfer of TA proteins is blocked by defects in the GET system, and this block is not due to impaired Doa10 functions. Thus, the GET pathway facilitates the transfer of mislocalized TA proteins from mitochondria to the ER.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202104076
  4. Nat Biomed Eng. 2022 Apr 18.
      Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) has been used to prevent maternal transmission of disease-causing mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). However, because MRT requires nuclear transfer, it carries the risk of mtDNA carryover and hence of the reversion of mtDNA to pathogenic levels owing to selective replication and genetic drift. Here we show in HeLa cells, mouse embryos and human embryos that mtDNA heteroplasmy can be reduced by pre-labelling the mitochondrial outer membrane of a donor zygote via microinjection with an mRNA coding for a transmembrane peptide fused to an autophagy receptor, to induce the degradation of the labelled mitochondria via forced mitophagy. Forced mitophagy reduced mtDNA carryover in newly reconstructed embryos after MRT, and had negligible effects on the growth curve, reproduction, exercise capacity and other behavioural characteristics of the offspring mice. The induction of forced mitophagy to degrade undesired donor mtDNA may increase the clinical feasibility of MRT and could be extended to other nuclear transfer techniques.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00881-7
  5. Autophagy Rep. 2022 ;1(1): 88-118
      Autophagosome formation involves the sequential actions of conserved ATG proteins to coordinate the lipidation of the ubiquitin-like modifier Atg8-family proteins at the nascent phagophore membrane. Although the molecular steps driving this process are well understood, the source of membranes for the expanding phagophore and their mode of delivery are only now beginning to be revealed. Here, we have used quantitative SILAC-based proteomics to identify proteins that associate with the ATG12-ATG5 conjugate, a crucial player during Atg8-family protein lipidation. Our datasets reveal a strong enrichment of regulators of clathrin-mediated vesicular trafficking, including clathrin heavy and light chains, and several clathrin adaptors. Also identified were PIK3C2A (a phosphoinositide 3-kinase involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis) and HIP1R (a component of clathrin vesicles), and the absence of either of these proteins alters autophagic flux in cell-based starvation assays. To determine whether the ATG12-ATG5 conjugate reciprocally influences trafficking within the endocytic compartment, we captured the cell surface proteomes of autophagy-competent and autophagy-incompetent mouse embryonic fibroblasts under fed and starved conditions. We report changes in the relative proportions of individual cell surface proteins and show that cell surface levels of the SLC7A5-SLC3A2 amino acid transporter are influenced by autophagy capability. Our data provide evidence for direct regulatory coupling between the ATG12-ATG5 conjugate and the clathrin membrane trafficking system and suggest candidate membrane proteins whose trafficking within the cell may be modulated by the autophagy machinery. Abbreviations: ATG, autophagy related; BafA1, bafilomycin A1; GFP, green fluorescent protein; HIP1R, huntingtin interacting protein 1 related; MEF, mouse embryo fibroblast; PIK3C2A, phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit type 2 alpha; SILAC, stable isotope labelling with amino acids in culture; SQSTM1, sequestosome 1; STRING, search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes/proteins.
    Keywords:  ATG12; ATG5; HIP1R; PIK3C2A; autophagy; clathrin; endocytosis; proteomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/27694127.2022.2042054
  6. Biomaterials. 2022 Apr 02. pii: S0142-9612(22)00125-9. [Epub ahead of print]284 121486
      As nanotherapeutics, mesenchymal stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) are considered a potent alternative for whole-cell therapy and are gradually entering the clinical field of liver diseases. In this study, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation in liver tissue was verified as a critical factor for liver ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in both clinical samples and animal models. Human umbilical cord-derived MSC-EVs (hUC-MSC-EVs) might function to reduce the NETs formation and subsequently improve liver IRI. Mechanistically, we showed that hUC-MSC-EVs contain functional mitochondria that are transferred to intrahepatic neutrophils. This effect triggers mitochondrial fusion and subsequently restores the mitochondrial status and functions in neutrophils to reduce NETs formation. Collectively, our findings suggest that MSC-EVs exert a nanotherapeutic effect on inhibiting local NETs formation by transferring functional mitochondria to intrahepatic neutrophils and repairing their mitochondrial function, which highlights the therapeutic value of hUC-MSC-EVs for liver IRI.
    Keywords:  Extracellular vesicles; Liver ischaemia-reperfusion injury; Mesenchymal stromal cells; Mitochondria transfer; Nanotherapeutics; Neutrophils extracellular traps
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121486
  7. Nat Cell Biol. 2022 Apr 21.
      Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and transcription are of paramount importance to cellular energy metabolism. Mitochondrial RNA polymerase is thought to be the primase for mtDNA replication. However, it is unclear how this enzyme, which normally transcribes long polycistronic RNAs, can produce short RNA oligonucleotides to initiate mtDNA replication. We show that the PPR domain of Drosophila mitochondrial RNA polymerase (PolrMT) has 3'-to-5' exoribonuclease activity, which is indispensable for PolrMT to synthesize short RNA oligonucleotides and prime DNA replication in vitro. An exoribonuclease-deficient mutant, PolrMTE423P, partially restores mitochondrial transcription but fails to support mtDNA replication when expressed in PolrMT-mutant flies, indicating that the exoribonuclease activity is necessary for mtDNA replication. In addition, overexpression of PolrMTE423P in adult flies leads to severe neuromuscular defects and a marked increase in mtDNA transcript errors, suggesting that exoribonuclease activity may contribute to the proofreading of mtDNA transcription.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-00887-y
  8. Cells. 2022 Apr 16. pii: 1363. [Epub ahead of print]11(8):
      Cells engage complex surveillance mechanisms to maintain mitochondrial function and protein homeostasis. LonP1 protease is a key component of mitochondrial quality control and has been implicated in human malignancies and other pathological disorders. Here, we employed two experimental systems, the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and human cancer cells, to investigate and compare the effects of LONP-1/LonP1 deficiency at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels. Deletion of the lonp-1 gene in worms disturbed mitochondrial function, provoked reactive oxygen species accumulation, and impaired normal processes, such as growth, behavior, and lifespan. The viability of lonp-1 mutants was dependent on the activity of the ATFS-1 transcription factor, and loss of LONP-1 evoked retrograde signaling that involved both the mitochondrial and cytoplasmic unfolded protein response (UPRmt and UPRcyt) pathways and ensuing diverse organismal stress responses. Exposure of worms to triterpenoid CDDO-Me, an inhibitor of human LonP1, stimulated only UPRcyt responses. In cancer cells, CDDO-Me induced key components of the integrated stress response (ISR), the UPRmt and UPRcyt pathways, and the redox machinery. However, genetic knockdown of LonP1 revealed a genotype-specific cellular response and induced apoptosis similar to CDDO-Me treatment. Overall, the mitochondrial dysfunction ensued by disruption of LonP1 elicits adaptive cytoprotective mechanisms that can inhibit cancer cell survival but diversely modulate organismal stress response and aging.
    Keywords:  C. elegans; CDDO-Me; LonP1; aging; cancer; mitochondria
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11081363
  9. Mol Cell. 2022 Apr 21. pii: S1097-2765(22)00313-6. [Epub ahead of print]82(8): 1390-1397
      We asked experts from different fields-from genome maintenance and proteostasis to organelle degradation via ubiquitin and autophagy-"What does quality control mean to you?" Despite their diverse backgrounds, they converge on and discuss the importance of continuous quality control at all levels, context, communication, timing, decisions on whether to repair or remove, and the significance of dysregulated quality control in disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2022.04.002