Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, National Institutes of Health, Montana 59840, USA.
Research Technologies Branch, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA.
Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 2;7:41556. doi: 10.1038/srep41556.
Cellular prion protein (PrP) is a mammalian glycoprotein which is usually found anchored to the plasma membrane via a glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. PrP misfolds to a pathogenic isoform PrP, the causative agent of neurodegenerative prion diseases. The precise function of PrP remains elusive but may depend upon its cellular localization. Here we show that PrP is present in brain mitochondria from 6-12 week old wild-type and transgenic mice in the absence of disease. Mitochondrial PrP was fully processed with mature N-linked glycans and did not require the GPI anchor for localization. Protease treatment of purified mitochondria suggested that mitochondrial PrP exists as a transmembrane isoform with the C-terminus facing the mitochondrial matrix and the N-terminus facing the intermembrane space. Taken together, our data suggest that PrP can be found in mitochondria in the absence of disease, old age, mutation, or overexpression and that PrP may affect mitochondrial function.
细胞朊蛋白(PrP)是一种哺乳动物糖蛋白,通常通过糖磷脂酰肌醇(GPI)锚定锚定在质膜上。PrP 错误折叠成致病性异构体 PrP,是神经退行性朊病毒病的致病因子。PrP 的精确功能仍然难以捉摸,但可能取决于其细胞定位。在这里,我们显示 PrP 存在于 6-12 周龄野生型和转基因小鼠的大脑线粒体中,而没有疾病。线粒体 PrP 经过成熟的 N 连接糖基化完全加工,并且不需要 GPI 锚定进行定位。纯化线粒体的蛋白酶处理表明,线粒体 PrP 作为跨膜异构体存在,其 C 末端面向线粒体基质,N 末端面向膜间空间。总之,我们的数据表明,在没有疾病、衰老、突变或过表达的情况下,PrP 可以存在于线粒体中,并且 PrP 可能影响线粒体功能。