Gene expression response to mitochondrial DNA depletion
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ABSTRACT: Mitochondrial defects are associated with a spectrum of human disorders, ranging from rare, inborn errors of metabolism to common, age-associated diseases such as diabetes and neurodegeneration. In lower organisms, genetic “retrograde” signaling programs have been identified that promote cellular and organism survival in the face of mitochondrial dysfunction. Here, we characterized the transcriptional component of the human mitochondrial retrograde response in an inducible model of mitochondrial dysfunction. We used an HEK293-derived cell line that expresses a dominant negative DNA polymerase gamma (PolGdn) under tet repressor control. Upon induction with doxycycline, PolGdn inhibits replication of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), so that existing copies of mtDNA are progressively diluted as cells continue to divide. Upon removal of doxycycline, repression of PolGdn is re-established, and mtDNA copy number, as well as mitochondrial protein expression and oxidative phosphorylation complex abundance, recovers. We used microarrays to study transcriptional changes arising from mtDNA depletion. We found a robust transcriptional response that is partially mediated by ATF4, which appears to effect an adaptive rewiring of serine and one-carbon metabolism.
Project description:The mitochondrial and nuclear genomes contribute to mitochondrial function, and when mitochondrial function is compromised, mitochondrial retrograde signaling alters nuclear gene expression. We performed gene expression profiling of engineered cells that had mitochondria containing a disease-associated mutation that causes mitochondrial dysfunction. By generating networks of transcription factors that targeted these genes, the authors revealed putative mitochondrial retrograde signaling pathways. One such pathway involved retinoic acid receptor alpha (RXRA), the mRNA for which was reduced in the mutant cells. Network analysis and experiments in cells suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction caused by the mutation initiated a positive feedback loop that aggravated mitochondrial dysfunction: Reduced RXRA abundance further compromised expression of genes encoding products involved in mitochondrial function and translation. This gene-transcription factor mapping-network approach may reveal targets for therapeutic intervention of diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. To investigate retrograde signaling pathways induced by the mitochondrial dysfunction caused by the mt3243 mutation, we generated the three types of cybrid cells using a mitochondria-mediated transformation method. Cells lacking mtDNA (rho0) were fused with mtDNAs with the mt3243 mutation isolated from platelets of a diabetic patient with sensorineural hearing loss. We then isolated three types of cybrid cells: W cells had wild-type mtDNA (3243A homoplasmy), H cells had both the mutant and wild-type mtDNA (3243A/G heteroplasmy) with 70% of the mtDNA containing 3243G, and M cells with only mutant mtDNA (3243G homoplasmy). Gene expression profiles of cybrid cells were generated using Illumina HumanHT-12-v3-BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA), which includes 49,896 probes corresponding to 25,202 annotated genes. According to the Illumina protocols, three biological triplicates of each type of cybrid cells were analyzed. Total RNA (500ng) was isolated from cybrid cells using RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, GmbH, Germany). RNA integrity number (RIN) was in the range of RIN = 9.2 and 10 when measured with an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer. RNA was reversely transcribed and amplified using IlluminaTotalPrep RNA amplification kit (Ambion, Austin, TX). In vitro transcription was then carried out to prepare cRNA. The cRNAs were hybridized to the array and then labeled with Cy3-streptavidin (Amersham Bioscience, Little Chalfont, UK). The fluorescent signal on the array was measured with a BeadStation 500 System (Illumina, San Diego, CA).
Project description:Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes essential components of the respiratory chain and loss of mtDNA leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegeneration. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is an essential component of mtDNA replication and a regulator of mitochondrial copy number in cells. Studies have shown that TFAM knockdown leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and respiratory chain deficiencies. Using gene expression analysis, we aimed to investigate the effects of mtDNA dysfunction in the CNS at the molecular level. We used microarray analysis to investigate gene expression in cases of mitochondrial dysfunction in the CNS. RNA was purified from the late third instar larval CNS from control larvae, or larvae over-expressing mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) in post-mitotic neurons using the neuron specific driver nsyb-Gal4. Three replicates are included for each condition.
Project description:Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) quantitative and qualitative defects have been associated with impaired human embryonic development, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. By using human embryos affected by mitochondrial disorders as models of mitochondrial dysfunction, we compared gene expression between 9 mitochondrial embryos (carriers of a pathogenic variant in a mtDNA or a nuclear gene coding for a mitochondrial protein) to 33 controls. Transcriptomic analyses performed by RNA-Sequencing revealed a similar global transcriptional repression in mitochondrial embryos affecting a significant proportion of differentiation factors and nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins. If oxidative phosphorylation was at the top of the most significant deregulated pathways, cell survival and autophagy were found to be significantly decreased in these embryos, questioning their viability. Differentially expressed genes identified in this study represent good predictive biomarkers of mitochondrial dysfunction and should be tested as markers of preimplantation development.
Project description:It has been reported that human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can transfer mitochondria to the cells with severely compromised mitochondrial function. We tested whether MSCs transfer mitochondria to the cells under several different conditions of mitochondrial dysfunction, including human pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. Using biochemical selection methods, we found that exponentially growing cells in restrictive media (uridine and bromodeoxyuridine [BrdU]+) after coculture of MSCs (uridine-independent and BrdU-sensitive) and 143B-derived cells with severe mitochondrial dysfunction induced by either long-term ethidium bromide treatment or short-term rhodamine 6G (R6G) treatment (uridine-dependent but BrdU-resistant). The exponentially growing cells had nuclear DNA fingerprint patterns identical to 143B, and a sequence of mtDNA identical to the MSCs. Since R6G causes rapid and irreversible damage to mitochondria without the removal of mtDNA, the mitochondrial function appears to be restored through a direct transfer of mitochondria rather than mtDNA alone. Conditioned media, which were prepared by treating mtDNA-less 143B 0 cells under uridine-free condition, induced increased chemotaxis in MSC, which was also supported by transcriptome analysis. A chemotaxis inhibitory agent blocked mitochondrial transfer phenomenon in the above condition. However, we could not find any evidence of mitochondrial transfer to the cells harboring human pathogenic mtDNA mutations (A3243G mutation or 4,977 bp deletion). Thus, the mitochondrial transfer is limited to the condition of a near total absence of mitochondrial function. Elucidation of the mechanism of mitochondrial transfer will help us create a potential “cell therapy-based mitochondrial restoration or mitochondrial gene therapy” for human diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. time series
Project description:Mitochondria are crucial for plant viability and are able to communicate information on their functional status to the cellular nucleus via retrograde signalling, thereby affecting gene expression. It is currently unclear if retrograde signalling in response to constitutive mitochondrial biogenesis defects is mediated by the same pathways as those triggered during acute mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, it is unknown if retrograde signalling can effectively improve plant performance when mitochondrial function is constitutively impaired. Here we show that retrograde signalling in mutants defective in mitochondrial proteins RNA polymerase rpotmp or prohibitin atphb3 can be suppressed by knocking out the transcription factor ANAC017. Genome-wide RNA-seq expression analysis revealed that ANAC017 is almost solely responsible for the most dramatic transcriptional changes common to rpotmp and atphb3 mutants, regulating both classical marker genes such as alternative oxidase 1a (AOX1a) and also previously-uncharacterised DUF295 genes that appear to be new retrograde markers. In contrast, ANAC017 does not regulate intra-mitochondrial gene expression or transcriptional changes unique to either rpotmp or atphb3 genotype, suggesting the existence of currently unknown signalling cascades. The data show that the role of ANAC017 extends beyond common retrograde transcriptional responses and affects downstream protein abundance and enzyme activity of alternative oxidase, as well as steady state energy metabolism in atphb3 plants. Furthermore, detailed growth analysis revealed that ANAC017-dependent retrograde signalling provides benefits for growth and productivity in plants with mitochondrial defects. In conclusion, ANAC017 plays a key role in both biogenic and operational mitochondrial retrograde signalling, and improves plant performance when mitochondrial function is constitutively impaired.
Project description:Defects in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complexes, altered bioenergetics and metabolic shift are often seen in cancers. Here we show a role for the dysfunction of electron transport chain component, cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) in cancer progression. We show that genetic silencing of the CcO complex by shRNA expression and loss of CcO activity in multiple cell types from the mouse and human sources resulted in metabolic shift to glycolysis, loss of anchorage dependent growth and acquired invasive phenotypes. Disruption of CcO complex caused loss of transmembrane potential and induction of Ca2+/Calcineurin-mediated retrograde signaling. Propagation of this signaling, includes activation of PI3-kinase, IGF1R and Akt, Ca2+ sensitive transcription factors and also, TGF1, MMP16, periostin that are involved in oncogenic progression. Whole genome expression analysis showed up regulation of genes involved in cell signaling, extracellular matrix interactions, cell morphogenesis, cell motility and migration. The transcription profiles reveal extensive similarity to retrograde signaling initiated by partial mtDNA depletion, though distinct differences are observed in signaling induced by CcO dysfunction. The possible CcO dysfunction as a biomarker for cancer progression was supported by data showing that esophageal tumors from human patients show reduced CcO subunits IVi1 and Vb in regions that were previously shown to be hypoxic core of the tumors. Our results show that mitochondrial electron transport chain defect initiates a retrograde signaling. These results suggest that a defect in CcO complex can potentially induce tumor progression. Total RNA from control and CcO IVi1 silenced cells was extract. Three independent samples were generated for control and silenced, respectively.
Project description:Bao XR, Ong SE, Goldberger O, Peng J, Sharma R, Thompson DA, Vafai SB, Cox A, Marutani E, Ichinose F, Goessling W, Regev A, Carr SA, Clish CB, Mootha VK. eLife 2016. Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with a spectrum of human disorders, ranging from rare, inborn errors of metabolism to common, age-associated diseases such as neurodegeneration. How these lesions give rise to diverse pathology is not well understood, partly because their proximal consequences have not been well-studied in mammalian cells. Here we provide two lines of evidence that mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction leads to alterations in one-carbon metabolism pathways. First, using hypothesis-generating metabolic, proteomic, and transcriptional profiling, followed by confirmatory experiments, we report that mtDNA depletion leads to an ATF4-mediated increase in serine biosynthesis and transsulfuration. Second, we show that lesioning the respiratory chain impairs mitochondrial production of formate from serine, and that in some cells, respiratory chain inhibition leads to growth defects upon serine withdrawal that are rescuable with purine or formate supplementation. Our work underscores the connection between the respiratory chain and one-carbon metabolism with implications for understanding mitochondrial pathogenesis.
Project description:Mitochondrial biogenesis is under the control of two different genetic systems: the nuclear genome (nDNA) and the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). mtDNA is a circular genome of 16.6 kb encoding 13 of the approximately 90 subunits that form the respiratory chain, the remaining ones being encoded by the nuclear genome (nDNA). Eukaryotic cells are able to monitor and respond to changes in mitochondrial function through alterations in nuclear gene expression, a phenomenon first defined in yeast and known as retrograde regulation. With this experiment we aimed to identify the set of nuclear genes that significantly change their expression level in response to depletion of mtDNA. Experiment Overall Design: We used Affymetrix HG-U133A GeneChips to study the transcriptome of two human cell lines, 143BTK- and A549, which had been entirely depleted of mtDNA (rho0 cells), and compared it with the corresponding undepleted parental cells (rho+ cells). Three independent biological replicates were analyzed for each cell line and treatment group.
Project description:<p> Human disorders of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) represent a devastating collection of inherited diseases. These disorders impact at least 1:5000 live births, and are characterized by multi-organ system involvement. They are characterized by remarkable locus heterogeneity, with mutations in the mtDNA as well as in over 77 nuclear genes identified to date. It is estimated that additional genes may be mutated in these disorders. </p> <p>To discover the genetic causes of mitochondrial OXPHOS diseases, we performed targeted, deep sequencing of the entire mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) and the coding exons of over 1000 nuclear genes encoding the mitochondrial proteome. We applied this 'MitoExome' sequencing to 124 unrelated patients with a wide range of OXPHOS disease presentations from the Massachusetts General Hospital Mitochondrial Disorders Clinic. </p> <p>The 2.3Mb targeted region was captured by hybrid selection and Illumina sequenced with paired 76bp reads. The total set of 1605 targeted nuclear genes included 1013 genes with strong evidence of mitochondrial localization from the MitoCarta database, 377 genes with weaker evidence of mitochondrial localization from the MitoP2 database and other sources, and 215 genes known to cause other inborn errors of metabolism. Approximately 88% of targeted bases were well-covered (>20X), with mean 200X coverage per targeted base. </p>
Project description:Normal cellular function requires communication between mitochondria and the nucleus, termed mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde signaling. Interruption of this mechanism has been implicated in the dysregulation of many cancer-related pathways, including cell death programs and tumor suppressor networks. Many proteins are known modulators of retrograde signaling, but whether microRNAs (miRNAs) are also involved is unknown. We conducted a miRNA microarray analysis using RNA from a parental cell line, a Rho0 line lacking mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and a Rho0 line with restored mtDNA. We found that miR-663 was down-regulated in the mtDNA-depleted Rho0 line. mtDNA restoration reversed this miRNA to parental levels, suggesting that it is an epigenetically-regulated mediator of retrograde signaling. We further demonstrated by methylation specific PCR and bisulfite sequencing that miR-663 is epigenetically regulated by pharmacological disruption of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Restoration of rotenone-suppressed miR-663 expression by N-acetylcysteine suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction–induced reactive oxygen species play a role in epigenetic miR-663 regulation. We noted that miR-663 regulates the expression of nuclear-encoded respiratory chain subunits, e.g. NDUFB8, SDHB, UQCRFS1, and COX4L1. miR-663 also regulated the OXPHOS assembly factors NDUFAF1, SDHAF2, UQCC2, and SCO1 and was required for respiratory supercomplex stability. Furthermore, using luciferase assays, we found that miR-663 directly regulates UQCC2. The miR-663 sponge reduced OXPHOS complex activity and increased in vitro cellular proliferation and promoted tumor development in mice. We also found that increased miR-663 expression in breast tumors consistently correlates with increased patient survival. We provide first evidence for miRNA mediating retrograde signaling, demonstrating its epigenetic regulation and its role in breast tumorigenesis.