RESUMO
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1-α (PGC1α) is a transcriptional coactivator able to up-regulate mitochondrial biogenesis, respiratory capacity, oxidative phosphorylation, and fatty acid ß-oxidation with the final aim of providing a more efficient pathway for aerobic energy production. In the continuously renewed intestinal epithelium, proliferative cells in the crypts migrate along the villus axis and differentiate into mature enterocytes, increasing their respiratory capacity and finally undergoing apoptosis. Here we show that in the intestinal epithelial surface, PGC1α drives mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration in the presence of reduced antioxidant enzyme activities, thus determining the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and fostering the fate of enterocytes toward apoptosis. Combining gain- and loss-of-function genetic approaches in human cells and mouse models of intestinal cancer, we present an intriguing scenario whereby PGC1α regulates enterocyte cell fate and protects against tumorigenesis.
Assuntos
Antioxidantes/metabolismo , Enterócitos/metabolismo , Proteínas de Choque Térmico/metabolismo , Neoplasias Intestinais/metabolismo , Proteínas de Neoplasias/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Animais , Transformação Celular Neoplásica , Enterócitos/patologia , Proteínas de Choque Térmico/genética , Humanos , Neoplasias Intestinais/genética , Neoplasias Intestinais/patologia , Camundongos , Camundongos Nus , Proteínas de Neoplasias/genética , Neoplasias Experimentais/genética , Neoplasias Experimentais/metabolismo , Neoplasias Experimentais/patologia , Consumo de Oxigênio/genética , Coativador 1-alfa do Receptor gama Ativado por Proliferador de Peroxissomo , Fatores de Transcrição/genéticaRESUMO
Mitochondria amplify activation of caspases during apoptosis by releasing cytochrome c and other cofactors. This is accompanied by fragmentation of the organelle and remodeling of the cristae. Here we provide evidence that Optic Atrophy 1 (OPA1), a profusion dynamin-related protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane mutated in dominant optic atrophy, protects from apoptosis by preventing cytochrome c release independently from mitochondrial fusion. OPA1 does not interfere with activation of the mitochondrial "gatekeepers" BAX and BAK, but it controls the shape of mitochondrial cristae, keeping their junctions tight during apoptosis. Tightness of cristae junctions correlates with oligomerization of two forms of OPA1, a soluble, intermembrane space and an integral inner membrane one. The proapoptotic BCL-2 family member BID, which widens cristae junctions, also disrupts OPA1 oligomers. Thus, OPA1 has genetically and molecularly distinct functions in mitochondrial fusion and in cristae remodeling during apoptosis.