Levels of human Fis1 at the mitochondrial outer membrane regulate mitochondrial morphology.
Mitochondria undergo balanced fission and fusion events that enable their appropriate networking within the cell. In yeast, three factors have been identified that co-ordinate fission events at the mitochondrial outer membrane. Fis1p acts as the outer membrane receptor for recruitment of the dynamin member, Dnm1p and the WD40-repeat-containing protein Mdv1p. In mammals, the Dnm1p counterpart Drp1 has been characterized, but other components have not. Here, we report the characterization of human Fis1 (hFis1). hFis1 is inserted into the mitochondrial outer membrane via a C-terminal transmembrane domain that, along with a short basic segment, is essential for its targeting. Although expression of hFis1 does not complement the phenotype of yeast cells lacking Fis1p, overexpression of hFis1 in tissue culture cells nevertheless causes mitochondrial fragmentation and aggregation. This aggregation could be suppressed by expressing a dominant-negative Drp1 mutant (Drp1(K38A)). Knockdown of hFis1 in COS-7 cells using RNA interference results in mitochondrial morphology defects with notable extensions in the length of mitochondrial tubules. These results indicate that the levels of hFis1 at the mitochondrial surface influences mitochondrial fission events and hence overall mitochondrial morphology within the cell.
Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe University, 3086 Melbourne, Australia.
Diana
D
Stojanovski
Olga S
OS
Koutsopoulos
Koji
K
Okamoto
Michael T
MT
Ryan
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
D018076:DNA, Complementary; C476525:FIS1 protein, human; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins