Correction: Dual functions of a small regulatory subunit in the mitochondrial calcium uniporter complex.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Tsai MF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5333950 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake, a process crucial for bioenergetics and Ca(2+) signaling, is catalyzed by the mitochondrial calcium uniporter. The uniporter is a multi-subunit Ca(2+)-activated Ca(2+) channel, with the Ca(2+) pore formed by the MCU protein and Ca(2+)-dependent activation mediated by MICU subunits. Recently, a mitochondrial inner membrane protein EMRE was identified as a uniporter subunit absolutely required for Ca(2+) permeation. However, the molecular mechanism and regulatory purpose of EMRE remain largely unexplored. Here, we determine the transmembrane orientation of EMRE, and show that its known MCU-activating function is mediated by the interaction of transmembrane helices from both proteins. We also reveal a second function of EMRE: to maintain tight MICU regulation of the MCU pore, a role that requires EMRE to bind MICU1 using its conserved C-terminal polyaspartate tail. This dual functionality of EMRE ensures that all transport-competent uniporters are tightly regulated, responding appropriately to a dynamic intracellular Ca(2+) landscape.
| S-EPMC4892889 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Comparative analyses of transcriptional profiles from humans and mice with cardiovascular pathologies revealed consistently elevated expression of MICU2, a regulatory subunit of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter complex. To determine if MICU2 expression was cardioprotective, we produced and characterized Micu2-/- mice. Mutant mice had left atrial enlargement and Micu2-/- cardiomyocytes had delayed sarcomere relaxation and cytosolic calcium reuptake kinetics, indicating diastolic dysfunction. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of Micu2-/- ventricular tissues revealed markedly reduced transcripts encoding the apelin receptor (Micu2-/- vs. wild type, P = 7.8 × 10-40), which suppresses angiotensin II receptor signaling via allosteric transinhibition. We found that Micu2-/- and wild-type mice had comparable basal blood pressures and elevated responses to angiotensin II infusion, but that Micu2-/- mice exhibited systolic dysfunction and 30% lethality from abdominal aortic rupture. Aneurysms and rupture did not occur with norepinephrine-induced hypertension. Aortic tissue from Micu2-/- mice had increased expression of extracellular matrix remodeling genes, while single-cell RNA-seq analyses showed increased expression of genes related to reactive oxygen species, inflammation, and proliferation in fibroblast and smooth muscle cells. We concluded that Micu2-/- mice recapitulate features of diastolic heart disease and define previously unappreciated roles for Micu2 in regulating angiotensin II-mediated hypertensive responses that are critical in protecting the abdominal aorta from injury.
| S-EPMC5664535 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter mediates the crucial cellular process of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, which regulates cell bioenergetics, intracellular Ca2+ signaling, and cell death initiation. The uniporter contains the pore-forming MCU subunit, an EMRE protein that binds to MCU, and the regulatory MICU1 subunit, which can dimerize with MICU1 or MICU2 and under resting cellular [Ca2+] occludes the MCU pore. It has been known for decades that spermine, which is ubiquitously present in animal cells, can enhance mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that spermine exerts dual modulatory effects on the uniporter. In physiological concentrations of spermine, it enhances uniporter activity by breaking the physical interactions between MCU and the MICU1-containing dimers to allow the uniporter to constitutively take up Ca2+ even in low [Ca2+] conditions. This potentiation effect does not require MICU2 or the EF-hand motifs in MICU1. When [spermine] rises to millimolar levels, it inhibits the uniporter by targeting the pore region in a MICU-independent manner. The MICU1-dependent spermine potentiation mechanism proposed here, along with our previous finding that cardiac mitochondria have very low MICU1, can explain the puzzling observation in the literature that mitochondria in the heart show no response to spermine.
| S-EPMC10274775 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Aberrations in mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis have been associated with different pathological conditions, including neurological defects, cardiovascular diseases, and, in the last years, cancer. With the recent molecular identification of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex, the channel that allows Ca2+ accumulation into the mitochondrial matrix, alterations in the expression levels or functioning in one or more MCU complex members have been linked to different cancers and cancer-related phenotypes. In this review, we will analyze the role of the uniporter and mitochondrial Ca2+ derangements in modulating cancer cell sensitivity to death, invasiveness, and migratory capacity, as well as cancer progression in vivo. We will also discuss some critical points and contradictory results to highlight the consequence of MCU complex modulation in tumor development.
| S-EPMC6592253 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The mitochondrial calcium uniporter is a Ca2+-activated Ca2+ channel complex mediating mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, a process crucial for Ca2+ signaling, bioenergetics, and cell death. The uniporter is composed of the pore-forming MCU protein, the gatekeeping MICU1 and MICU2 subunits, and EMRE, a single-pass membrane protein that links MCU and MICU1 together. As a bridging subunit required for channel function, EMRE could paradoxically inhibit uniporter complex formation if expressed in excess. Here, we show that mitochondrial mAAA proteases AFG3L2 and SPG7 rapidly degrade unassembled EMRE using the energy of ATP hydrolysis. Once EMRE is incorporated into the complex, its turnover is inhibited >15-fold. Protease-resistant EMRE mutants produce uniporter subcomplexes that induce constitutive Ca2+ leakage into mitochondria, a condition linked to debilitating neuromuscular disorders in humans. The results highlight the dynamic nature of uniporter subunit assembly, which must be tightly regulated to ensure proper mitochondrial responses to intracellular Ca2+ signals.
| S-EPMC5410796 | biostudies-literature
Project description:T-cell receptor-induced Ca2+ signals are essential for proper T-cell activation and function. In this context, mitochondria play an important role and take up Ca2+ to support elevated bioenergetic demands. The protein machinery that regulates mitochondrial Ca2+ (mCa2+) uptake; the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex, could be thus implicated in T-cell immunity. However, the exact role of MCU in T-cells is not understood. Here, we show that upon activation of naïve T-cells, the MCU complex undergoes a compositional rearrangement that causes elevated mCa2+ uptake and increased bioenergetic output. Transcriptome and proteome analyses reveal molecular determinants involved in mitochondrial functional reprograming and identify signaling pathways controlled by MCU. MCUa knockdown diminishes mCa2+ uptake, mitochondrial respiration and ATP production as well as T-cell invasion and cytokine secretion. In vivo, downregulation of MCUa in rat CD4+ T-cells suppresses autoimmune responses in a multiple sclerosis model of inflammatory experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In summary, Ca2+ uptake through MCU is essential for proper T-cell function and is involved in autoimmunity. T-cell specific MCU inhibition is a potential tool for treating autoimmune disorders.
2024-10-23 | GSE253049 | GEO
Project description:In cardiac myocytes, regulation of mitochondrial Ca2+ is important for cellular signaling and cardiac contraction. Ca2+ entry into the mitochondria is mediated by a highly selective Ca2+ channel called the mitochondrial calcium uniporter, which consists of a pore-forming subunit MCU and regulatory subunits such as MICU1. Although pharmacological regulation of the mitochondrial Ca2+ influx is a promising approach to controlling the cellular functions, a cell-permeable and specific inhibitor of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter has not yet been developed. Here, we identify a novel cell-permeable inhibitor of the uniporter by a high-throughput screening of 120?000 small-molecule compounds. In our study, DS16570511 dose-dependently inhibited serum-induced mitochondrial Ca2+ influx in HEK293A cells with an IC50 of 7??M. DS16570511 inhibited Ca2+ uptake of isolated mitochondria from human cells, rat heart and pig heart. Overexpression of hMCU or hMICU1 in HEK293A cells increased mitochondrial Ca2+ influx, and the increases were completely suppressed by the pretreatment with DS16570511. DS16570511 also blocks mitochondrial Ca2+ overload in a Langendorff perfused beating rat heart. Interestingly, DS16570511 increased cardiac contractility without affecting heart rate in the perfused heart. These results show that DS16570511 is a novel cell-permeable inhibitor of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter and applicable for control of the cardiac functions.
| S-EPMC5511861 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The mitochondrial uniporter is a highly selective calcium channel in the organelle's inner membrane. Its molecular components include the EF-hand-containing calcium-binding proteins mitochondrial calcium uptake 1 (MICU1) and MICU2 and the pore-forming subunit mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU). We sought to achieve a full molecular characterization of the uniporter holocomplex (uniplex). Quantitative mass spectrometry of affinity-purified uniplex recovered MICU1 and MICU2, MCU and its paralog MCUb, and essential MCU regulator (EMRE), a previously uncharacterized protein. EMRE is a 10-kilodalton, metazoan-specific protein with a single transmembrane domain. In its absence, uniporter channel activity was lost despite intact MCU expression and oligomerization. EMRE was required for the interaction of MCU with MICU1 and MICU2. Hence, EMRE is essential for in vivo uniporter current and additionally bridges the calcium-sensing role of MICU1 and MICU2 with the calcium-conducting role of MCU.
| S-EPMC4091629 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Ferroptosis is an iron- and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent form of regulated cell death, that has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Inhibition of cystine/glutamate antiporter could lead to mitochondrial fragmentation, mitochondrial calcium ([Ca2+]m) overload, increased mitochondrial ROS production, disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), and ferroptotic cell death. The observation that mitochondrial dysfunction is a characteristic of ferroptosis makes preservation of mitochondrial function a potential therapeutic option for diseases associated with ferroptotic cell death. Mitochondrial calcium levels are controlled via the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), the main entry point of Ca2+ into the mitochondrial matrix. Therefore, we have hypothesized that negative modulation of MCU complex may confer protection against ferroptosis. Here we evaluated whether the known negative modulators of MCU complex, ruthenium red (RR), its derivative Ru265, mitoxantrone (MX), and MCU-i4 can prevent mitochondrial dysfunction and ferroptotic cell death. These compounds mediated protection in HT22 cells, in human dopaminergic neurons and mouse primary cortical neurons against ferroptotic cell death. Depletion of MICU1, a [Ca2+]m gatekeeper, demonstrated that MICU is protective against ferroptosis. Taken together, our results reveal that negative modulation of MCU complex represents a therapeutic option to prevent degenerative conditions, in which ferroptosis is central to the progression of these pathologies.
| S-EPMC10676387 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Calcium entering mitochondria potently stimulates ATP synthesis. Increases in calcium preserve energy synthesis in cardiomyopathies caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, and occur due to enhanced activity of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter channel. The signaling mechanism that mediates this compensatory increase remains unknown. Here, we find that increases in the uniporter are due to impairment in Complex I of the electron transport chain. In normal physiology, Complex I promotes uniporter degradation via an interaction with the uniporter pore-forming subunit, a process we term Complex I-induced protein turnover. When Complex I dysfunction ensues, contact with the uniporter is inhibited, preventing degradation, and leading to a build-up in functional channels. Preventing uniporter activity leads to early demise in Complex I-deficient animals. Conversely, enhancing uniporter stability rescues survival and function in Complex I deficiency. Taken together, our data identify a fundamental pathway producing compensatory increases in calcium influx during Complex I impairment.
| S-EPMC9120069 | biostudies-literature