Project description:Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common feature in neurodegeneration and aging. We identify mitochondrial dysfunction in xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA), a nucleotide excision DNA repair disorder with severe neurodegeneration, in silico and in vivo. XPA deficient cells show defective mitophagy with excessive cleavage of PINK1 and increased mitochondrial membrane potential. The mitochondrial abnormalities appear to be caused by decreased activation of the NAD+-SIRT1-PGC-1? axis triggered by hyperactivation of the DNA damage sensor PARP1. This phenotype is rescued by PARP1 inhibition or by supplementation with NAD+ precursors that also rescue the lifespan defect in xpa-1 nematodes. Importantly, this pathogenesis appears common to ataxia-telangiectasia and Cockayne syndrome, two other DNA repair disorders with neurodegeneration, but absent in XPC, a DNA repair disorder without neurodegeneration. Our findings reveal a novel nuclear-mitochondrial cross-talk that is critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial health. Mice carrying WT, or CX (Csa-/-/Xpa-/-) alleles in a C57BL/6 background were maintained under standard laboratory conditions and allowed free access to water and control casein pelleted diet (Research Diets D12450B). At 3 months of age, 3 replicates of each of the CX and WT mice were given subcutaneous interscapular injections of 500 mg of Nicotinamide riboside/kg body weight/day or the equivalent volume of saline for 14 consecutive days at 4:00 pm. On day 15, the mice were sacrificed and half of the cerebellum was harvested for purification of mitochondria, with the left half snap-frozen, homogenized, and aliquoted for RNA isolation. Total RNA extraction was done using a TRIzol Plus RNA purification kit as per manufacturer’s protocol. Quality and quantity of the total RNA was tested using the Agilent 2100 Bio-Analyzer and RNA 6000 nano kits. The RNA was labeled using the standard Illumina protocol and hybed overnight to Mouse Ref-8 Illumina arrays. The arrays were scanned using the Beadstation 500 X from Illumina.
Project description:Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common feature in neurodegeneration and aging. We identify mitochondrial dysfunction in xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA), a nucleotide excision DNA repair disorder with severe neurodegeneration, in silico and in vivo. XPA deficient cells show defective mitophagy with excessive cleavage of PINK1 and increased mitochondrial membrane potential. The mitochondrial abnormalities appear to be caused by decreased activation of the NAD+-SIRT1-PGC-1α axis triggered by hyperactivation of the DNA damage sensor PARP1. This phenotype is rescued by PARP1 inhibition or by supplementation with NAD+ precursors that also rescue the lifespan defect in xpa-1 nematodes. Importantly, this pathogenesis appears common to ataxia-telangiectasia and Cockayne syndrome, two other DNA repair disorders with neurodegeneration, but absent in XPC, a DNA repair disorder without neurodegeneration. Our findings reveal a novel nuclear-mitochondrial cross-talk that is critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial health.
Project description:Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common feature in neurodegeneration and aging. We identify mitochondrial dysfunction in xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA), a nucleotide excision DNA repair disorder with severe neurodegeneration, in silico and in vivo. XPA deficient cells show defective mitophagy with excessive cleavage of PINK1 and increased mitochondrial membrane potential. The mitochondrial abnormalities appear to be caused by decreased activation of the NAD+-SIRT1-PGC-1α axis triggered by hyperactivation of the DNA damage sensor PARP1. This phenotype is rescued by PARP1 inhibition or by supplementation with NAD+ precursors that also rescue the lifespan defect in xpa-1 nematodes. Importantly, this pathogenesis appears common to ataxia-telangiectasia and Cockayne syndrome, two other DNA repair disorders with neurodegeneration, but absent in XPC, a DNA repair disorder without neurodegeneration. Our findings reveal a novel nuclear-mitochondrial cross-talk that is critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial health.
Project description:Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common feature in neurodegeneration and aging. We identify mitochondrial dysfunction in xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA), a nucleotide excision DNA repair disorder with severe neurodegeneration, in silico and in vivo. XPA-deficient cells show defective mitophagy with excessive cleavage of PINK1 and increased mitochondrial membrane potential. The mitochondrial abnormalities appear to be caused by decreased activation of the NAD(+)-SIRT1-PGC-1α axis triggered by hyperactivation of the DNA damage sensor PARP-1. This phenotype is rescued by PARP-1 inhibition or by supplementation with NAD(+) precursors that also rescue the lifespan defect in xpa-1 nematodes. Importantly, this pathogenesis appears common to ataxia-telangiectasia and Cockayne syndrome, two other DNA repair disorders with neurodegeneration, but absent in XPC, a DNA repair disorder without neurodegeneration. Our findings reveal a nuclear-mitochondrial crosstalk that is critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial health.
Project description:Although dysregulated cholesterol metabolism predisposes aging tissues to inflammation and a plethora of diseases, the underlying molecular mechanism remains poorly defined. Here, we show that metabolic and genotoxic stresses, convergently acting through liver X nuclear receptor, upregulate CD38 to promote lysosomal cholesterol efflux, leading to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) depletion in macrophages. Cholesterol-mediated NAD+ depletion induces macrophage senescence, promoting key features of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), including subretinal lipid deposition and neurodegeneration. NAD+ augmentation reverses cellular senescence and macrophage dysfunction, preventing the development of AMD phenotype. Genetic and pharmacological senolysis protect against the development of AMD and neurodegeneration. Subretinal administration of healthy macrophages promotes the clearance of senescent macrophages, reversing the AMD disease burden. Thus, NAD+ deficit induced by excess intracellular cholesterol is the converging mechanism of macrophage senescence and a causal process underlying age-related neurodegeneration.
Project description:ARTD1 (PARP1) is a key enzyme involved in DNA repair through the synthesis of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) in response to strand breaks, and it plays an important role in cell death following excessive DNA damage. ARTD1-induced cell death is associated with NAD(+) depletion and ATP loss; however, the molecular mechanism of ARTD1-mediated energy collapse remains elusive. Using real-time metabolic measurements, we compared the effects of ARTD1 activation and direct NAD(+) depletion. We found that ARTD1-mediated PAR synthesis, but not direct NAD(+) depletion, resulted in a block to glycolysis and ATP loss. We then established a proteomics-based PAR interactome after DNA damage and identified hexokinase 1 (HK1) as a PAR binding protein. HK1 activity is suppressed following nuclear ARTD1 activation and binding by PAR. These findings help explain how prolonged activation of ARTD1 triggers energy collapse and cell death, revealing insight into the importance of nucleus-to-mitochondria communication via ARTD1 activation.
Project description:Wld(S) is a fusion protein with NAD synthesis activity, and has been reported to protect axonal and synaptic compartments of neurons from various mechanical, genetic and chemical insults. However, whether Wld(S) can protect non-neuronal cells against toxic chemicals is largely unknown. Here we found that Wld(S) significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of bipyridylium herbicides paraquat and diquat in mouse embryonic fibroblasts, but had no effect on the cytotoxicity induced by chromium (VI), hydrogen peroxide, etoposide, tunicamycin or brefeldin A. Wld(S) also slowed down the death of mice induced by intraperitoneal injection of paraquat. Further studies demonstrated that Wld(S) markedly attenuated mitochondrial injury including disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, structural damage and decline of ATP induced by paraquat. Disruption of the NAD synthesis activity of Wld(S) by an H112A or F116S point mutation resulted in loss of its protective function against paraquat-induced cell death. Furthermore, Wld(S) delayed the decrease of intracellular NAD levels induced by paraquat. Similarly, treatment with NAD or its precursor nicotinamide mononucleotide attenuated paraquat-induced cytotoxicity and decline of ATP and NAD levels. In addition, we showed that SIRT1 was required for both exogenous NAD and Wld(S)-mediated cellular protection against paraquat. These findings suggest that NAD and SIRT1 mediate the protective function of Wld(S) against the cytotoxicity induced by paraquat, which provides new clues for the mechanisms underlying the protective function of Wld(S) in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, and implies that attenuation of NAD depletion may be effective to alleviate paraquat poisoning.
Project description:Active autophagy coupled with rapid mitochondrial fusion and fission constitutes an important mitochondrial quality control mechanism and is critical to cellular health. In our previous studies, we found that exposure of cells to nicotinamide causes a decrease in mitochondrial content and an increase in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) by activating autophagy and inducing mitochondrial fragmentation. Here, we present evidence to show that the effect of nicotinamide is mediated through an increase of the [NAD(+)]/[NADH] ratio and the activation of SIRT1, an NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase that plays a role in autophagy flux. The [NAD(+)]/[NADH] ratio was inversely correlated with the mitochondrial content, and an increase in the ratio by the mobilization of the malate-aspartate shuttle resulted in autophagy activation and mitochondrial transformation from lengthy filaments to short dots. Furthermore, treatment of cells with SIRT1 activators, fisetin or SRT1720, induced similar changes in the mitochondrial content. Importantly, the activators induced mitochondrial fragmentation only when SIRT1 expression was intact. Meanwhile, MMP did not increase when the cells were treated with the activators, suggesting that the change in MMP is not induced by the mitochondrial turnover per se and that elevation of the [NAD(+)]/[NADH] ratio may activate additional mechanisms that cause MMP augmentation. Together, our results indicate that a metabolic state resulting in an elevated [NAD(+)]/[NADH] ratio can modulate mitochondrial quantity and quality via pathways that may include SIRT1-mediated mitochondrial autophagy.
Project description:Macroautophagy/autophagy is an important intracellular mechanism for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Here we show that the CERKL (ceramide kinase like) gene, a retinal degeneration (RD) pathogenic gene, plays a critical role in regulating autophagy by stabilizing SIRT1. In vitro and in vivo, suppressing CERKL results in impaired autophagy. SIRT1 is one of the main regulators of acetylation/deacetylation in autophagy. In CERKL-depleted retinas and cells, SIRT1 is downregulated. ATG5 and ATG7, 2 essential components of autophagy, show a higher degree of acetylation in CERKL-depleted cells. Overexpression of SIRT1 rescues autophagy in CERKL-depleted cells, whereas CERKL loses its function of regulating autophagy in SIRT1-depleted cells, and overexpression of CERKL upregulates SIRT1. Finally, we show that CERKL directly interacts with SIRT1, and may regulate its phosphorylation at Ser27 to stabilize SIRT1. These results show that CERKL is an important regulator of autophagy and it plays this role by stabilizing the deacetylase SIRT1.