Mitochondrial Morphology, Function and Homeostasis Are Impaired by Expression of an N-terminal Calpain Cleavage Fragment of Ataxin-3.

Alterations in mitochondrial morphology and function have been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease. Metabolic defects, resulting from dysfunctional mitochondria, have been reported in patients and respective animal models of all those diseases. Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3), another neurodegenerative disorder, also presents with metabolic defects and loss of body weight in early disease stages although the possible role of mitochondrial dysfunction in SCA3 pathology is still to be determined. Interestingly, the SCA3 disease protein ataxin-3, which is predominantly localized in cytoplasm and nucleus, has also been associated with mitochondria in both its mutant and wildtype form. This observation provides an interesting link to a potential mitochondrial involvement of mutant ataxin-3 in SCA3 pathogenesis. Furthermore, proteolytic cleavage of ataxin-3 has been shown to produce toxic fragments and even overexpression of artificially truncated forms of ataxin-3 resulted in mitochondria deficits. Therefore, we analyzed the repercussions of expressing a naturally occurring N-terminal cleavage fragment of ataxin-3 and the influence of an endogenous expression of the S256 cleavage fragment in vitro and in vivo. In our study, expression of a fragment derived from calpain cleavage induced mitochondrial fragmentation and cristae alterations leading to a significantly decreased capacity of mitochondrial respiration and contributing to an increased susceptibility to apoptosis. Furthermore, analyzing mitophagy revealed activation of autophagy in the early pathogenesis with reduced lysosomal activity. In conclusion, our findings indicate that cleavage of ataxin-3 by calpains results in fragments which interfere with mitochondrial function and mitochondrial degradation processes.

Systems-level organization of yeast methylotrophic lifestyle.

BACKGROUND: Some yeasts have evolved a methylotrophic lifestyle enabling them to utilize the single carbon compound methanol as a carbon and energy source. Among them, Pichia pastoris (syn. Komagataella sp.) is frequently used for the production of heterologous proteins and also serves as a model organism for organelle research. Our current knowledge of methylotrophic lifestyle mainly derives from sophisticated biochemical studies which identified many key methanol utilization enzymes such as alcohol oxidase and dihydroxyacetone synthase and their localization to the peroxisomes. C1 assimilation is supposed to involve the pentose phosphate pathway, but details of these reactions are not known to date. RESULTS: In this work we analyzed the regulation patterns of 5,354 genes, 575 proteins, 141 metabolites, and fluxes through 39 reactions of P. pastoris comparing growth on glucose and on a methanol/glycerol mixed medium, respectively. Contrary to previous assumptions, we found that the entire methanol assimilation pathway is localized to peroxisomes rather than employing part of the cytosolic pentose phosphate pathway for xylulose-5-phosphate regeneration. For this purpose, P. pastoris (and presumably also other methylotrophic yeasts) have evolved a duplicated methanol inducible enzyme set targeted to peroxisomes. This compartmentalized cyclic C1 assimilation process termed xylose-monophosphate cycle resembles the principle of the Calvin cycle and uses sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate as intermediate. The strong induction of alcohol oxidase, dihydroxyacetone synthase, formaldehyde and formate dehydrogenase, and catalase leads to high demand of their cofactors riboflavin, thiamine, nicotinamide, and heme, respectively, which is reflected in strong up-regulation of the respective synthesis pathways on methanol. Methanol-grown cells have a higher protein but lower free amino acid content, which can be attributed to the high drain towards methanol metabolic enzymes and their cofactors. In context with up-regulation of many amino acid biosynthesis genes or proteins, this visualizes an increased flux towards amino acid and protein synthesis which is reflected also in increased levels of transcripts and/or proteins related to ribosome biogenesis and translation. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our work illustrates how concerted interpretation of multiple levels of systems biology data can contribute to elucidation of yet unknown cellular pathways and revolutionize our understanding of cellular biology.

Reduced quenching and extraction time for mammalian cells using filtration and syringe extraction.

In order to preserve the in vivo metabolite levels of cells, a quenching protocol must be quickly executed to avoid degradation of labile metabolites either chemically or biologically. In the case of mammalian cell cultures cultivated in complex media, a wash step previous to quenching is necessary to avoid contamination of the cell pellet with extracellular metabolites, which could distort the real intracellular concentration of metabolites. This is typically achieved either by one or multiple centrifugation/wash steps which delay the time until quenching (even harsh centrifugation requires several minutes for processing until the cells are quenched) or filtration. In this article, we describe and evaluate a two-step optimized protocol based on fast filtration by use of a vacuum pump for quenching and subsequent extraction of intracellular metabolites from CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) suspension cells, which uses commercially available components. The method allows transfer of washed cells into liquid nitrogen within 10-15s of sampling and recovers the entire extraction solution volume. It also has the advantage to remove residual filter filaments in the final sample, thus preventing damage to separation columns during subsequent MS analysis. Relative to other methods currently used in the literature, the resulting energy charge of intracellular adenosine nucleotides was increased to 0.94 compared to 0.90 with cold PBS quenching or 0.82 with cold methanol/AMBIC quenching.

Balance is the challenge--the impact of mitochondrial dynamics in Parkinson's disease.

Impaired mitochondrial function has been implicated in neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) based on biochemical and pathoanatomical studies in brains of PD patients. This observation was further substantiated by the identification of exogenic toxins, i.e. complex I inhibitors that directly affect mitochondrial energy metabolism and cause Parkinsonism in humans and various animal models. Recently, insights into the underlying molecular signalling pathways leading to alterations in mitochondrial homeostasis were gained based on the functional characterization of mitoprotective genes identified in rare forms of inherited PD. Using in vitro and in vivo loss of function models of the Parkin, PINK1, DJ-1 and Omi/HtrA2 gene, the emerging field of mitochondrial dynamics in PD was established as being critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial function in neurons. This underscored the concept that mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles, which are tightly regulated to continuously adapt shape to functional and anatomical requirements during axonal transport, synaptic signalling, organelle degradation and cellular energy supply. The dissection of pathways involved in mitochondrial quality control clearly established the PINK1/Parkin-pathway in the clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria by autophagy and hints to a complex interplay between PD-associated proteins acting at the mitochondrial interface. The elucidation of this mitoprotective signalling network may help to define novel therapeutic targets for PD via molecular modelling of mitochondria and/or pharmacological modulation of mitochondrial dynamics.

Reduced basal autophagy and impaired mitochondrial dynamics due to loss of Parkinson's disease-associated protein DJ-1.

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial dysfunction and degradation takes a central role in current paradigms of neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). Loss of DJ-1 function is a rare cause of familial PD. Although a critical role of DJ-1 in oxidative stress response and mitochondrial function has been recognized, the effects on mitochondrial dynamics and downstream consequences remain to be determined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using DJ-1 loss of function cellular models from knockout (KO) mice and human carriers of the E64D mutation in the DJ-1 gene we define a novel role of DJ-1 in the integrity of both cellular organelles, mitochondria and lysosomes. We show that loss of DJ-1 caused impaired mitochondrial respiration, increased intramitochondrial reactive oxygen species, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and characteristic alterations of mitochondrial shape as shown by quantitative morphology. Importantly, ultrastructural imaging and subsequent detailed lysosomal activity analyses revealed reduced basal autophagic degradation and the accumulation of defective mitochondria in DJ-1 KO cells, that was linked with decreased levels of phospho-activated ERK2. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We show that loss of DJ-1 leads to impaired autophagy and accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria that under physiological conditions would be compensated via lysosomal clearance. Our study provides evidence for a critical role of DJ-1 in mitochondrial homeostasis by connecting basal autophagy and mitochondrial integrity in Parkinson's disease.

A comprehensive genetic study of the proteasomal subunit S6 ATPase in German Parkinson's disease patients.

Dysfunction of proteasomal protein degradation is involved in neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). Recently we identified the regulatory proteasomal subunit S6 ATPase as a novel interactor of synphilin-1, which is a substrate of the ubiquitin-ligase Parkin (PARK2) and an interacting protein of alpha-synuclein (PARK1). To further investigate a potential role in the pathogenesis of PD, we performed a detailed mutation analysis of the S6 ATPase gene in a large sample of 486 German sporadic and familial PD patients. Direct sequencing revealed two novel intronic variants. An insertion/deletion variant in intron 5 of the S6 ATPase gene was more frequent in patients compared to controls. Moreover, this variant was significantly more frequent in early-onset compared to late-onset PD patients. The identification of a genetic link between a regulatory proteasomal subunit and PD further underscores the relevance of disturbed protein degradation in PD.

Inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 activity by celecoxib does not lead to radiosensitization of human prostate cancer cells in vitro.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the potential radiosensitizing effect of the specific COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (Celebrex) on prostate carcinoma cells in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The influence of celecoxib (concentration range 5 to 75 microM) on radiation-induced cellular and clonogenic survival was investigated in prostate carcinoma cell lines PC-3, DU145, LNCaP and normal prostate epithelial cells (PrEC). Western blot analysis and ELISA were used to determine the impact of radiation alone or radiation combined with celecoxib treatment on COX-2 expression and prostaglandin E2 synthesis. To evaluate induction of celecoxib-induced apoptosis cell cycle analysis has been performed. RESULTS: Celecoxib (5, 10 and 25 microM) in combination with single-dose irradiation of 2 Gy induced a significant radiosensitization in normal prostate epithelial cells which could not be observed for any of the prostate carcinoma cell lines investigated. Increased COX-2 protein expression in PC-3 cells was obvious only after IR with 15 Gy, while PGE2 production was elevated following irradiation (2-15 Gy) in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with celecoxib alone or in combination with IR led to a dose-dependent increase in COX-2 protein expression. Nevertheless pre-treatment with celecoxib caused a marked reduction of radiation-induced enzyme activity as tested at the level of PGE2 production, both in PC-3 and DU145 cells. Following fractionated irradiation with single doses of 2 Gy, elevated COX-2 protein expression as well as enhanced PGE2 production was observed already after the second fraction in PC-3 cells. Pre-treatment with celecoxib reduced the amount of PGE(2) significantly, but not of COX-2 protein. CONCLUSIONS: Our data obtained for the human prostate cancer cell lines do not indicate that a marked inhibition of prostaglandin E2 synthesis by celecoxib leads to enhanced radiosensitization. Thus, in terms of radiosensitization the analysed prostate cancer cells can be classified as non-responders to celecoxib treatment.