Project description:Mutations in the E3 ubiquitin ligase Parkin cause autosomal recessive Parkinson’s disease. In concert with PINK1, Parkin regulates the clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria via lysosomes. In response, new mitochondria are generated through an interplay of nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded proteins. Mouse and overexpression models suggests that Parkin also influences these processes, both in the nuclear cascade and at the level of the mitochondrial genome. Additionally, Parkin has been shown to prevent mitochondrial membrane permeation, impeding the escape of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In line with this, serum from Parkin mutation carriers showed higher levels of circulating cell-free mtDNA (ccf-mtDNA) and inflammatory cytokines – a result of the innate immune response - which can be triggered by cytosolic mtDNA. However, Parkin’s relationship with the mitochondrial genome and the mitogenesis pathway has not been explored in patient-derived neurons. To investigate this aspect of Parkin’s cellular function endogenously, we generated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived midbrain neurons from Parkin mutation carriers and healthy controls. In Parkin-deficient cells, several factors in the mitochondrial biogenesis pathway were significantly reduced, resulting in impaired mtDNA homeostasis - a phenomenon that was exacerbated in dopaminergic neurons. Moreover, in response to a lack of freely accessible NAD+, the energy sensor Sirtuin 1, which simultaneously controls mtDNA maintenance processes and mitophagy, was downregulated in Parkin-deficient neurons. However, while impaired lysosomal degradation of mitochondria was only detectable in oxidative conditions, biogenesis defects were already apparent in untreated patient neurons. This may suggest that mitophagy disruption occurs in response to acute stress. By contrast, the biogenesis pathway may be continually impaired in Parkin-associated Parkinson’s disease. Next, using a mutagenic stress model in combination with Parkin knockdown, we detected an increase in ccf-mtDNA and the cytosolic DNA sensor cGAS. To explore if ccf-mtDNA can act as damage-associated molecular pattern in the brain, we used postmortem tissue from a Parkin mutation carrier and performed single-cell RNA sequencing. In the midbrain lacking Parkin, we found a higher percentage of microglia along with an upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines in these cells. Together, our findings suggest a role for Parkin in the control of mitochondrial biogenesis and mtDNA maintenance, which protects midbrain neurons from neuroinflammation-induced degeneration. Future research in iPSC-derived neuron-microglia co-culture systems could aim at developing PD treatment approaches that target the neuronal release or microglial uptake of ccf-mtDNA.
Project description:Dominant mutations in the mitochondrial paralogs coiled-helix-coiled-helix (CHCHD) domain 2 (C2) and CHCHD10 (C10) were recently identified as causing Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia/myopathy, respectively. The mechanism by which they disrupt mitochondrial cristae, however, has been uncertain. Using the first C2/C10 double knockout (DKO) mice, we report that C10 pathogenesis and the normal function of C2/C10 are intimately linked. Similar to patients with C10 mutations, we found that C2/C10 DKO mice have disrupted mitochondrial cristae, because of cleavage of the mitochondrial-shaping protein long form of OPA1 (L-OPA1) by the stress-induced peptidase OMA1. OMA1 was found to be activated similarly in affected tissues of mutant C10 knock-in (KI) mice, demonstrating that L-OPA1 cleavage is a novel mechanism for cristae abnormalities because of both C10 mutation and C2/C10 loss. Using OMA1 activation as a functional assay, we found that C2 and C10 are partially functionally redundant, and some but not all disease-causing mutations have retained activity. Finally, C2/C10 DKO mice partially phenocopied mutant C10 KI mice with the development of cardiomyopathy and activation of the integrated mitochondrial integrated stress response in affected tissues, tying mutant C10 pathogenesis to C2/C10 function.
Project description:Caloric restriction (CR) without malnutrition appears to mitigate many detrimental effects of aging, in particular the age-related decline in skeletal muscle mitochondrial function. Although the mechanisms responsible for this protective effect remain unclear, CR is commonly believed to increase mitochondrial biogenesis; a concept that is now demanding closer scrutiny. Here we show that lifelong CR in mice prevents age-related loss of mitochondrial function, measured in isolated mitochondria and permeabilized muscle fibers. We find that these beneficial effects of CR occur without increasing mitochondrial abundance. Furthermore, whole-genome expression profiling and large-scale proteomic surveys revealed expression patterns inconsistent with increased mitochondrial biogenesis. These observations, combined with lower protein synthesis rates support an alternative hypothesis that CR preserves mitochondrial function not by increasing mitochondrial biogenesis, but rather by decreasing mitochondrial oxidant emission, increasing antioxidant scavenging, thereby minimizing oxidative damage to cellular components. Cross-sectional comparison of skeletal muscle from young (8mo), old (24mo) and old caloric restricted mice, obtained from the colony maintained on behalf of the National Institute on Aging.
Project description:The retina, the accessible part of the central nervous system, has served as a model system to study the relationship between energy utilization and metabolite supply. When the metabolite supply cannot match the energy demand, retinal neurons are at risk of death. As the powerhouse of eukaryotic cells, mitochondria play a pivotal role in generating ATP, produce precursors for macromolecules, maintain the redox homeostasis, and function as waste management centers for various types of metabolic intermediates. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the pathologies of a number of degenerative retinal diseases. It is well known that photoreceptors are particularly vulnerable to mutations affecting mitochondrial function due to their high energy demand and susceptibility to oxidative stress. However, it is unclear how defective mitochondria affect other retinal neurons. Nuclear respiratory factor 1 (Nrf1) is the major transcriptional regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, and loss of Nrf1 leads to defective mitochondria biogenesis and eventually cell death. Here, we investigated how different retinal neurons respond to the loss of Nrf1. We provide in vivo evidence that the disruption of Nrf1-mediated mitochondrial biogenesis results in a slow, progressive degeneration of all retinal cell types examined, although they present different sensitivity to the deletion of Nrf1, which implicates differential energy demand and utilization, as well as tolerance to mitochondria defects in different neuronal cells. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis on rod-specific Nrf1 deletion uncovered a previously unknown role of Nrf1 in maintaining genome stability.
Project description:Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated from peripheral blood cells of a patient with ID and differentiated into neurons. Label-free phosphoproteomics was used to assess the phosphorylation of proteins in neurons derived from both patients and healthy controls.
Project description:Microarray time-course of mouse myotubes transduced with the transcriptional co-activator PGC-1alpha, which is known to induce mitochondrial biogenesis in muscle cells. Keywords: time course
Project description:Glioblastoma (GBM) is among the most aggressive of human cancers. Although differentiation therapy has been proposed to be potential approach to treat GBM, the mechanisms of induced differentiation remain poorly defined. Here, we established the induced differentiation model of GBM by using cAMP activators, which specifically directed GBM into astroglia. Next, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses uncovered oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial biogenesis were involved in induced differentiation of GBM. Further investigation showed dbcAMP reversed Warburg effect evidenced by increase of oxygen consumption and reduction of lactate production. Stimulated mitochondrial biogenesis downstream of CREB/PGC1α pathway triggered metabolic shift and differentiation. Blocking mitochondrial biogenesis by mdivi1 or silencing PGC1α abrogated differentiation, reversely over-expression of PGC1α elicited differentiation. In GBM xenograft models and patient-derived GBM samples, cAMP activators also induced tumor growth inhibition and differentiation. This study shows mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolic switch to oxidative phosphorylation drive the differentiation process of tumor cells.
Project description:Neurons rely heavily on mitochondria for their function and survival. Mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. PGC-1α is a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and function. Here we identify necdin as a potent PGC-1α stabilizer that promotes mitochondrial biogenesis via PGC-1α in mammalian neurons. Expression of genes encoding mitochondria-specific proteins decreases significantly in necdin-null cortical neurons, where mitochondrial function and expression of the PGC-1α protein are reduced. Necdin strongly stabilizes PGC-1α by inhibiting its ubiquitin-dependent degradation. Forced expression of necdin enhances mitochondrial function in primary cortical neurons and human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells to prevent mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibitor-induced degeneration. Moreover, overexpression of necdin in the substantia nigra in vivo of adult mice protects dopaminergic neurons against degeneration in experimental Parkinson's disease. These data reveal that necdin promotes mitochondrial biogenesis through stabilization of endogenous PGC-1α to exert neuroprotection against mitochondrial insults.
Project description:Mutations in genes encoding components of the telomerase holoenzyme complex result in a spectrum of rare genetic disorders known as telomere diseases, including dyskeratosis congenita (DC). A consistent finding in DC due to pathogenic mutations in DKC1, which encodes dyskerin, is decreased steady-state levels of the non-coding RNA component of telomerase (TERC) and thus impaired telomere maintenance. Dyskerin binds hundreds of other small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). However, the mechanisms by which DKC1 mutations cause variable impacts on these snoRNAs are poorly understood, which is a barrier to understanding disease mechanisms in DC beyond impaired telomere maintenance. Here, using somatic and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from DC patients with DKC1 mutations and CRISPR-Cas9-engineered iPSCs, we show that mutations in the N-terminal extension domain (NTE) of dyskerin dysregulate the biogenesis of a subset of snoRNAs, with the most prominent effect on scaRNA13 (small Cajal body-specific RNA 13). In patient iPSCs carrying the del37L dyskerin NTE-domain mutation but not in those with C-terminal mutations, nascent scaRNA13 transcripts showed a discrete population of 3´-extended forms, as seen in the setting of DC-causing mutations in the PARN (polyA-specific ribonuclease) gene. By deep sequencing of RNA 3´ ends, we found that aberrant scaRNA13 transcripts were composed of genomically-encoded extensions and post-transcriptionally oligoadenylated species, mediated by the noncanonical polymerase PAPD5, which counters PARN. NTE domain mutations generated using CRISPR-Cas9 engineering of the endogenous DKC1 recapitulated the scaRNA13 3´-end processing defects seen in del37L patient cells. Conversely, repair of the DKC1 del37L mutation and genetic or pharmacological manipulation of PAPD5 rescued scaRNA13 end processing defects and steady-state levels. Analysis of the human telomerase cryo-EM structure showed that the dyskerin NTE interacts with 3´ end of bound RNA, suggesting that mutations in this domain impair 3´ end protection of nascent scaRNA13 in addition to canonical functions in snoRNA stabilization. Our results provide mechanistic insights into the interplay of dyskerin and the PARN/PAPD5 axis in the biogenesis and accumulation of snoRNAs beyond TERC, which has important implications for our broader understanding of ncRNA dysregulation in human diseases.