Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Science. 2018 Apr 20;360(6386):336-341. doi: 10.1126/science.aao1785.
Mitofusins (MFNs) promote fusion-mediated mitochondrial content exchange and subcellular trafficking. Mutations in cause neurodegenerative Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A (CMT2A). We showed that MFN2 activity can be determined by Met and His interactions with Asp and Leu and controlled by PINK1 kinase-mediated phosphorylation of adjacent MFN2 Ser Small-molecule mimics of the peptide-peptide interface of MFN2 disrupted this interaction, allosterically activating MFN2 and promoting mitochondrial fusion. These first-in-class mitofusin agonists overcame dominant mitochondrial defects provoked in cultured neurons by CMT2A mutants MFN2 Arg→Gln and MFN2 Thr→Met, as demonstrated by amelioration of mitochondrial dysmotility, fragmentation, depolarization, and clumping. A mitofusin agonist normalized axonal mitochondrial trafficking within sciatic nerves of MFN2 Thr→Met mice, promising a therapeutic approach for CMT2A and other untreatable diseases of impaired neuronal mitochondrial dynamism and/or trafficking.
线粒体融合蛋白(MFNs)促进融合介导的线粒体内容物交换和亚细胞运输。发生在 上的突变会导致神经退行性夏科-马里-图什病 2A 型(CMT2A)。我们发现 MFN2 的活性可以通过 Met 和 His 与 Asp 和 Leu 的相互作用来决定,并受 PINK1 激酶介导的相邻 MFN2 Ser 的磷酸化来调控。MFN2 的小分子模拟肽-肽界面的相互作用破坏了这种相互作用,别构激活了 MFN2 并促进了线粒体融合。这些首创的 MFN 激动剂克服了 CMT2A 突变 MFN2 Arg→Gln 和 MFN2 Thr→Met 在培养神经元中引发的主导性线粒体缺陷,表现为线粒体运动障碍、碎片化、去极化和聚集的改善。MFN2 Thr→Met 小鼠坐骨神经内的轴突线粒体运输得到了 MFN2 激动剂的正常化,为 CMT2A 和其他无法治疗的神经元线粒体动态和/或运输受损疾病提供了一种治疗方法。