Russo Silvia, De Rasmo Domenico, Rossi Roberta, Signorile Anna, Lobasso Simona
Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience (DiBraiN), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Pl. G. Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy.
Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM) , National Research Council (CNR), Bari, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 13;14(1):13655. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-64368-y.
Barth syndrome (BTHS) is a lethal rare genetic disorder, which results in cardiac dysfunction, severe skeletal muscle weakness, immune issues and growth delay. Mutations in the TAFAZZIN gene, which is responsible for the remodeling of the phospholipid cardiolipin (CL), lead to abnormalities in mitochondrial membrane, including alteration of mature CL acyl composition and the presence of monolysocardiolipin (MLCL). The dramatic increase in the MLCL/CL ratio is the hallmark of patients with BTHS, which is associated with mitochondrial bioenergetics dysfunction and altered membrane ultrastructure. There are currently no specific therapies for BTHS. Here, we showed that cardiac mitochondria isolated from TAFAZZIN knockdown (Taz) mice presented abnormal ultrastructural membrane morphology, accumulation of vacuoles, pro-fission conditions and defective mitophagy. Interestingly, we found that in vivo treatment of Taz mice with a CL-targeted small peptide (named SS-31) was able to restore mitochondrial morphology in tafazzin-deficient heart by affecting specific proteins involved in dynamic process and mitophagy. This agrees with our previous data showing an improvement in mitochondrial respiratory efficiency associated with increased supercomplex organization in Taz mice under the same pharmacological treatment. Taken together our findings confirm the beneficial effect of SS-31 in the amelioration of tafazzin-deficient dysfunctional mitochondria in a BTHS animal model.
巴斯综合征(BTHS)是一种致命的罕见遗传疾病,会导致心脏功能障碍、严重的骨骼肌无力、免疫问题和生长发育迟缓。负责重塑磷脂心磷脂(CL)的TAFAZZIN基因突变会导致线粒体膜异常,包括成熟CL酰基组成的改变和单赖氨酸心磷脂(MLCL)的存在。MLCL/CL比值的显著升高是BTHS患者的标志,这与线粒体生物能量功能障碍和膜超微结构改变有关。目前尚无针对BTHS的特异性治疗方法。在此,我们表明,从TAFAZZIN基因敲低(Taz)小鼠分离出的心脏线粒体呈现出异常的超微结构膜形态、空泡积累、促分裂状态和有缺陷的线粒体自噬。有趣的是,我们发现用一种靶向CL的小肽(名为SS-31)对Taz小鼠进行体内治疗,能够通过影响参与动态过程和线粒体自噬的特定蛋白质,恢复tafazzin缺陷心脏中的线粒体形态。这与我们之前的数据一致,即在相同的药物治疗下,Taz小鼠中线粒体呼吸效率的提高与超复合物组织的增加有关。综上所述,我们的研究结果证实了SS-31在改善BTHS动物模型中tafazzin缺陷的功能失调线粒体方面的有益作用。
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