Project description:Clearance of apoptotic cells (ACs) by phagocytes (efferocytosis) prevents post-apoptotic necrosis and dampens inflammation. Defective efferocytosis drives important diseases, including atherosclerosis. For efficient efferocytosis, phagocytes must be able to internalize multiple ACs. We show here that uptake of multiple ACs by macrophages requires dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1)-mediated mitochondrial fission, which is triggered by AC uptake. When mitochondrial fission is disabled, AC-induced increase in cytosolic calcium is blunted owing to mitochondrial calcium sequestration, and calcium-dependent phagosome formation around secondarily encountered ACs is impaired. These defects can be corrected by silencing the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU). Mice lacking myeloid Drp1 showed defective efferocytosis and its pathologic consequences in the thymus after dexamethasone treatment and in advanced atherosclerotic lesions in fat-fed Ldlr-/- mice. Thus, mitochondrial fission in response to AC uptake is a critical process that enables macrophages to clear multiple ACs and to avoid the pathologic consequences of defective efferocytosis in vivo.
Project description:The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome drives many inflammatory processes and mediates IL-1 family cytokine release. Inflammasome activators typically damage cells and may release lysosomal and mitochondrial products into the cytosol. Macrophages triggered by the NLRP3 inflammasome activator nigericin show reduced mitochondrial function and decreased cellular ATP. Release of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to subsequent lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). NLRP3-deficient macrophages show comparable reduced mitochondrial function and ATP loss, but maintain lysosomal acidity, demonstrating that LMP is NLRP3 dependent. A subset of wild-type macrophages undergo subsequent mitochondrial membrane permeabilization and die. Both LMP and mitochondrial membrane permeabilization are inhibited by potassium, scavenging mitochondrial ROS, or NLRP3 deficiency, but are unaffected by cathepsin B or caspase-1 inhibitors. In contrast, IL-1? secretion is ablated by potassium, scavenging mitochondrial ROS, and both cathepsin B and caspase-1 inhibition. These results demonstrate interplay between lysosomes and mitochondria that sustain NLRP3 activation and distinguish cell death from IL-1? release.
Project description:Eukaryotic cells are densely packed with macromolecular complexes and intertwining organelles, continually transported and reshaped. Intriguingly, organelles avoid clashing and entangling with each other in such limited space. Mitochondria form extensive networks constantly remodeled by fission and fusion. Here, we show that mitochondrial fission is triggered by mechanical forces. Mechano-stimulation of mitochondria - via encounter with motile intracellular pathogens, via external pressure applied by an atomic force microscope, or via cell migration across uneven microsurfaces - results in the recruitment of the mitochondrial fission machinery, and subsequent division. We propose that MFF, owing to affinity for narrow mitochondria, acts as a membrane-bound force sensor to recruit the fission machinery to mechanically strained sites. Thus, mitochondria adapt to the environment by sensing and responding to biomechanical cues. Our findings that mechanical triggers can be coupled to biochemical responses in membrane dynamics may explain how organelles orderly cohabit in the crowded cytoplasm.
Project description:Acrolein (Acr), a highly reactive unsaturated aldehyde, can cause various lung diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. We have found that Acr can damage not only genomic DNA but also DNA repair proteins causing repair dysfunction and enhancing cells' mutational susceptibility. While these effects may account for Acr lung carcinogenicity, the mechanisms by which Acr induces lung diseases other than cancer are unclear. In this study, we found that Acr induces damages in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), inhibits mitochondrial bioenergetics, and alters mtDNA copy number in human lung epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Furthermore, Acr induces mitochondrial fission which is followed by autophagy/ mitophagy and Acr-induced DNA damages can trigger apoptosis. However, the autophagy/ mitophagy process does not change the level of Acr-induced mtDNA damages and apoptosis. We propose that Acr-induced mtDNA damages trigger loss of mtDNA via mitochondrial fission and mitophagy. These processes and mitochondria dysfunction induced by Acr are causes that lead to lung diseases.
Project description:Although tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and its agonistic receptors have been identified as highly promising antitumor agents preferentially eliminating cancer cells with minimal damage, the emergence of TRAIL resistance in most cancers may contribute to therapeutic failure. Thus, there is an urgent need for new approaches to overcome TRAIL resistance. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are one of the most promising nanomaterials that show immense antitumor potential via targeting various cellular and molecular processes; however, the effects of AuNPs on TRAIL sensitivity in cancer cells remain unclear. In this study, we found that AuNPs combined with TRAIL exhibited a greater potency in promoting apoptosis in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells compared with TRAIL alone, suggesting that AuNPs sensitize cancer cells to TRAIL. Further experiments demonstrated that the combination of TRAIL and AuNPs was more effective in causing excessive mitochondrial fragmentation in cancer cells accompanied by a dramatic increase in mitochondrial recruitment of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), mitochondrial dysfunctions, and enhancement of autophagy induction. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing of Drp1 or inhibition of autophagy could effectively alleviate apoptosis in cells exposed to TRAIL combined with AuNPs. In vivo studies revealed that AuNPs augmented TRAIL sensitivity in tumor-bearing mice. Our data indicated that AuNPs potentiate apoptotic response to TRAIL in NSCLC cells through Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission, and TRAIL combined with AuNPs can be a potential chemotherapeutic strategy for the treatment of NSCLC.
Project description:Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy has been associated with diminished mitochondrial metabolism. Mitochondria are crucial organelles for the production of ATP, and their morphology and function are regulated by the dynamic processes of fusion and fission. The relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is still poorly understood. Here, we show that treatment of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with the hypertrophic agonist norepinephrine promotes mitochondrial fission (characterized by a decrease in mitochondrial mean volume and an increase in the relative number of mitochondria per cell) and a decrease in mitochondrial function. We demonstrate that norepinephrine acts through ?1-adrenergic receptors to increase cytoplasmic Ca(2+), activating calcineurin and promoting migration of the fission protein Drp1 (encoded by Dnml1) to mitochondria. Dominant-negative Drp1 (K38A) not only prevented mitochondrial fission, it also blocked hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes in response to norepinephrine. Remarkably, an antisense adenovirus against the fusion protein Mfn2 (AsMfn2) was sufficient to increase mitochondrial fission and stimulate a hypertrophic response without agonist treatment. Collectively, these results demonstrate the importance of mitochondrial dynamics in the development of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and metabolic remodeling.
Project description:Despite the fact that deregulated NLRP3 inflammasome activation contributes to the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory or metabolic disorders, the underlying mechanism by which NLRP3 inflammasome signaling is initiated or potentiated remains poorly understood. Much attention is being paid to mitochondria as a regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, but little is known about the role of mitochondrial dynamics for the inflammasome pathway. Here, we present evidence that aberrant mitochondrial elongation caused by the knockdown of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) lead to a marked increase in NLRP3-dependent caspase-1 activation and interleukin-1-beta secretion in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages. Conversely, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone, a chemical inducer of mitochondrial fission, clearly attenuated NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and activation. Augmented activation of NLRP3 inflammasome by mitochondrial elongation is not resulted from the increased mitochondrial damages of Drp1-knockdown cells. Notably, enhanced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling in Drp1-knockdown macrophages is implicated in the potentiation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, possibly via mediating mitochondrial localization of NLRP3 to facilitate the assembly of NLRP3 inflammasome. Taken together, our results provide a molecular insight into the importance of mitochondrial dynamics in potentiating NLRP3 inflammasome activation, leading to aberrant inflammation.
Project description:Apoptosis plays a critical role in the development of myocardial infarction. Cardiomyocytes are enriched with mitochondria and excessive mitochondrial fission can trigger cellular apoptosis. Recently, the mitochondrial ubiquitin ligase (MITOL), localized in the mitochondrial outer membrane, was reported to play an important role in the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics and apoptosis. However, the underlying mechanism of its action remains uncertain. The present study was aimed at uncovering the role of MITOL in the regulation of cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Our results showed that MITOL expression was up-regulated in cardiomyocytes in response to apoptotic stimulation. Mitochondrial ubiquitin ligase overexpression blocked dynamin-related protein 1 accumulation in the mitochondria, and attenuated the mitochondrial fission induced by hydrogen peroxide. Conversely, MITOL knockdown sensitized cardiomyocytes to undergo mitochondrial fission, resulting in subsequent apoptosis. These findings suggest that MITOL plays a protective role against apoptosis in cardiomyocytes, and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for apoptosis-related cardiac diseases.
Project description:Cancer is one of the world's deadliest afflictions. Despite recent advances in diagnostic and surgical technologies, as well as improved treatments of some individual tumor types, there is currently no universal cure to prevent or impede the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant cells. Targeting tumors by inducing apoptosis is one of the pillars of cancer treatment. Changes in mitochondrial morphology precede intrinsic apoptosis, but mitochondrial dynamics has only recently been recognized as a viable pharmacological target. In many cancers, oncogenic transformation is accompanied by accumulation of elevated cellular levels of ROS leading to redox imbalance. Hence, a common chemotherapeutic strategy against such tumor types involves deploying pro-oxidant agents to increase ROS levels above an apoptotic death-inducing threshold. The aim of this chapter is to investigate the benefit of stimulating mitochondrial fission-dependent production of ROS for enhanced killing of solid tumors. The main question to be addressed is whether a sudden and abrupt change in mitochondrial shape toward the fragmented phenotype can be pharmacologically harnessed to trigger a burst of mitochondrial ROS sufficient to initiate apoptosis specifically in cancer cells but not in non-transformed healthy tissues.