title: Mitofusin 1 and mitofusin 2 are ubiquitinated in a PINK1/parkin-dependent manner upon induction of mitophagy.
abstract: Mitochondrial dysfunction and perturbed degradation of proteins have been implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. Mutations in the Parkin and PINK1 genes are a cause of familial PD. PINK1 is a putative kinase associated with mitochondria, and loss of PINK1 expression leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, which increases with time. Parkin is suggested to be downstream of PINK1 and also mediates the removal of damaged mitochondria by macroautophagy (mitophagy). We investigated whether mitochondrial dysfunction in dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cells following decreased PINK1 expression by RNAi may in part be due to the inhibition of mitophagy. Reduced flux through the macroautophagy pathway was found to be coincident with the inhibition of ATP synthesis following 12 days of PINK1 silencing. Overexpression of parkin in these cells restored both autophagic flux and ATP synthesis. Overexpression and RNAi studies also indicated that PINK1 and parkin were required for mitophagy following CCCP-induced mitochondrial damage. The ubiquitination of several mitochondrial proteins, including mitofusin 1 and mitofusin 2, were detected within 3 h of CCCP treatment. These post-translational modifications were reduced following the silencing of parkin or PINK1. The ubiquitination of mitochondrial proteins appears to identify mitochondria for degradation and facilitate mitophagy. PINK1 and parkin are thus required for the removal of damaged mitochondria in dopaminergic cells, and inhibition of this pathway may lead to the accumulation of defective mitochondria which may contribute to PD pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK. m.gegg@medsch.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Matthew E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gegg
authors.forename: J Mark
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Kai-Yin
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chau
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.forename: Anthony H V
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Schapira
authors.forename: Jan-Willem
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Taanman
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects; D002258:Carbonyl Cyanide m-Chlorophenyl Hydrazone / Q000494:pharmacology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000378:metabolism*; D054875:Ubiquitination / Q000187:drug effects; D000099202:PTEN-Induced Putative Kinase
chemical_list: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D002258:Carbonyl Cyanide m-Chlorophenyl Hydrazone; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D000099202:PTEN-Induced Putative Kinase; C111567:parkin protein; C470018:MFN2 protein, human; C470017:Mfn1 protein, human