Project description:Mitochondria are the energy-generating hubs of the cell. In spite of considerable advances, our understanding of the factors that regulate the molecular circuits that govern mitochondrial function remains incomplete. Using a genome-wide functional screen, we have identified the poorly characterized protein Zinc finger CCCH-type containing 10 (Zc3h10) as regulator of mitochondrial physiology. We show that Zc3h10 is a nuclear RNA binding protein that controls the fate of Slc25a37 and Prelid3a mRNA transcripts, two nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins central for iron and cardiolipin homeostasis. Depletion of Zc3h10 results in mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced TCA cycle flux. Notably, we have identified a loss-of-function mutation of Zc3h10 in humans (Tyr105 to Cys105) that is associated with decreased mitochondrial function, increased body mass index, fat mass, fasting glucose and triglycerides. Cells from Cys105 homozygotes display alterations in Slc25a37 and Prelid3a levels and defects in mitochondrial iron and cardiolipin homeostasis that derive in mitochondrial dysfunction.
Project description:Mitochondria are the energy-generating hubs of the cell. In spite of considerable advances, our understanding of the factors that regulate the molecular circuits that govern mitochondrial function remains incomplete. Using a genome-wide functional screen, we have identified the poorly characterized protein Zinc finger CCCH-type containing 10 (Zc3h10) as regulator of mitochondrial physiology. We show that Zc3h10 is a nuclear RNA binding protein that controls the fate of Slc25a37 and Prelid3a mRNA transcripts, two nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins central for iron and cardiolipin homeostasis. Depletion of Zc3h10 results in mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced TCA cycle flux. Notably, we have identified a loss-of-function mutation of Zc3h10 in humans (Tyr105 to Cys105) that is associated with decreased mitochondrial function, increased body mass index, fat mass, fasting glucose and triglycerides. Cells from Cys105 homozygotes display alterations in Slc25a37 and Prelid3a levels and defects in mitochondrial iron and cardiolipin homeostasis that derive in mitochondrial dysfunction.
Project description:Mitochondria are the energy-generating hubs of the cell. In spite of considerable advances, our understanding of the factors that regulate the molecular circuits that govern mitochondrial function remains incomplete. Using a genome-wide functional screen, we have identified the poorly characterized protein Zinc finger CCCH-type containing 10 (Zc3h10) as regulator of mitochondrial physiology. We show that Zc3h10 is a nuclear RNA binding protein that controls the fate of Slc25a37 and Prelid3a mRNA transcripts, two nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins central for iron and cardiolipin homeostasis. Depletion of Zc3h10 results in mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced TCA cycle flux. Notably, we have identified a loss-of-function mutation of Zc3h10 in humans (Tyr105 to Cys105) that is associated with decreased mitochondrial function, increased body mass index, fat mass, fasting glucose and triglycerides. Cells from Cys105 homozygotes display alterations in Slc25a37 and Prelid3a levels and defects in mitochondrial iron and cardiolipin homeostasis that derive in mitochondrial dysfunction.
Project description:Mitochondria are the energy-generating hubs of the cell. In spite of considerable advances, our understanding of the factors that regulate the molecular circuits that govern mitochondrial function remains incomplete. Using a genome-wide functional screen, we have identified the poorly characterized protein Zinc finger CCCH-type containing 10 (Zc3h10) as regulator of mitochondrial physiology. We show that Zc3h10 is upregulated during physiological mitochondriogenesis such as myoblasts differentiation into myotubes. Zc3h10 overexpression boosts mitochondrial function and promotes myoblasts differentiation. On the other hand, depletion of Zc3h10 results in impaired myoblasts differentiation, mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced expression of electron transport chain (ETC) subunits and blunted TCA cycle flux. Notably, we have identified a loss-of-function mutation of Zc3h10 in humans (Tyr105 to Cys105) that is associated with increased body mass index, fat mass, fasting glucose and triglycerides. Isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from Cys105 homozygotes display reduced oxygen consumption rate, some ETC subunit expression and decreased levels of some TCA cycle metabolites that derive in mitochondrial dysfunction. Finally, our study identifies Zc3h10 as a novel mitochondrial regulator.
Project description:Here we show that synthesis of the mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin is an indispensable driver of thermogenic fat function. Cardiolipin biosynthesis is robustly induced in brown and beige adipose upon cold exposure. Mimicking this response by overexpressing cardiolipin synthase (Crls1) enhances energy consumption in mouse and human adipocytes. Crls1 deficiency diminishes mitochondrial uncoupling in brown and beige adipocytes and elicits a nuclear transcriptional response through ER stress-mediated retrograde communication. Cardiolipin depletion in brown and beige fat abolishes adipose thermogenesis and glucose uptake and renders animals strikingly insulin resistant. We further identify a rare human CRLS1 variant associated with insulin resistance and show that adipose CRLS1 levels positively correlate with insulin sensitivity. Thus, adipose cardiolipin is a powerful regulator of organismal energy homeostasis through thermogenic fat bioenergetics.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.