Loss of MCU prevents mitochondrial fusion in G1-S phase and blocks cell cycle progression and proliferation
Balancing Ca2+ pools in proliferating cells
Cell proliferation is an energetically demanding process. During the cell cycle, mitochondrial fusion and mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake increase, both of which correlate with increased ATP production. Koval et al. found that the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) was required to balance Ca2+ concentrations in the cytosol and mitochondria. Without the MCU, the excess cytosolic Ca2+ resulted in mitochondrial fission mediated by Drp1, reduced ATP output, and decreased cellular proliferation. Thus, the MCU enables ATP production to match energy demands during the cell cycle.
Abstract
The role of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) in physiologic cell proliferation remains to be defined. Here, we demonstrated that the MCU was required to match mitochondrial function to metabolic demands during the cell cycle. During the G1-S transition (the cycle phase with the highest mitochondrial ATP output), mitochondrial fusion, oxygen consumption, and Ca2+ uptake increased in wild-type cells but not in cells lacking MCU. In proliferating wild-type control cells, the addition of the growth factors promoted the activation of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) and the phosphorylation of the mitochondrial fission factor Drp1 at Ser616. The lack of the MCU was associated with baseline activation of CaMKII, mitochondrial fragmentation due to increased Drp1 phosphorylation, and impaired mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis. The mitochondrial fission/fusion ratio and proliferation in MCU-deficient cells recovered after MCU restoration or inhibition of mitochondrial fragmentation or of CaMKII in the cytosol. Our data highlight a key function for the MCU in mitochondrial adaptation to the metabolic demands during cell cycle progression. Cytosolic CaMKII and the MCU participate in a regulatory circuit, whereby mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake affects cell proliferation through Drp1.
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Supplementary Material
Summary
Fig. S1. MCU−/− mice demonstrate postnatal growth retardation.
Fig. S2. Inhibition of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake by MCU siRNA and RU360.
Fig. S3. Cell cycle progression is delayed in MCU−/− VSMCs.
Fig. S4. Mitochondria in VSMCs with MCU knockdown are fragmented at baseline and do not fragment with PDGF treatment.
Fig. S5. PKC activity is not altered in tissues from MCU−/− mice.
Fig. S6. CaMKII associates with mitochondria upon PDGF treatment.
Fig. S7. PKC inhibition does not alter mitochondrial respiration.
Fig. S8. MCU knockdown attenuates the metabolic response to PDGF application.
Fig. S9. MCU expression in MCU−/− VSMCs recovers mitochondrial dynamics and respiration.
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Information & Authors
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Science Signaling
Volume 12 | Issue 579
April 2019
April 2019
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
Submission history
Received: 22 August 2018
Accepted: 1 April 2019
Acknowledgments
We thank C. Galet for editorial assistance, J. Ledolter for consultation on biostatistical analyses, and T. Finkel for MCU−/− mice. Funding: The project was supported by grants from the NIH (R01 HL 108932 to I.M.G., R01 HL127764 and R01 HL112413 to E.D.A., R01 DK11662 to S.S., R01 CA111365 to P.C.G., and TL1-TR-001875 to T.P.F.), the Veterans Affairs Iowa City (I01 BX000163 to I.M.G.), the American Heart Association (17GRNT33660032 to I.M.G.), and the NIH NHLBI (F30 HL131078 and T32 GM007337 to E.K.N.). Author contributions: I.M.G. and O.M.K. designed the research. O.M.K. performed all Ca2+ imaging, bioenergetics experiments, most immunoblots, and, together with E.K.N., some microscopy experiments. E.K.N. performed the additional immunoblots. V.S. analyzed mitochondrial morphology and cell counts. T.P.F. performed the wounding experiments in mice. S.C.S. performed and analyzed histological experiments. T.P.R. performed the cell culture experiments. D.J.M. performed the analysis of mitochondrial morphology, mitochondrial respiration, and cell counts. P.C.G. helped with the cell cycle analysis. S.S. and E.D.A. provided the critical reagents and scientific advice. I.M.G. and O.M.K. wrote the manuscript with input from all other authors. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials.
Authors
Funding Information
NIH Office of the Director: HL108932
NIH Office of the Director: CA111365
NIH Office of the Director: HL131078
NIH Office of the Director: GM007337
NIH Office of the Director: HL127764
NIH Office of the Director: HL112413
NIH Office of the Director: DK116624
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: BX000163
American Heart Association: 17GRNT33660032
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