Browsing by Subject "mitophagy"

Autophagy is a cellular recycling and quality control process that eliminates cellular material in a non-selective or selective fashion. Macroautophagy is non-selective, and degrades macromolecules or damaged organelles to sustain cellular homeostasis. The selective autophagy of dysfunctional or excess mitochondria is known as mitophagy. The clinical importance of functional degradation is exemplified by the lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), where lysosomal hydrolytic enzymes are absent or dysfunctional. Previous investigations of a rare infantile LSD indicated a change in autophagy and decreased mitochondrial content. The aim of this MSc thesis was to quantitatively compare macroautophagy and mitophagy in a cellular model of this rare LSD, by generating fluorescent macroautophagy and mitophagy reporter-expressing cell lines from patient material. Fibroblasts derived from patients diagnosed with a rare infantile LSD were transduced with lentiviruses carrying either mCherry-GFP-LC3 or mito-QC reporters, for the microscopic analysis of autophagy and mitophagy, respectively. I also monitored autophagic flux by traditional biochemistry in untreated and starved cells, in the presence or absence of lysosomal inhibitors (bafilomycin A1). Basal and iron-depletion induced mitophagy was profiled using confocal microscopy, quantitative cell biology and biochemistry. My findings suggest differential autophagic turnover in LSD patient-derived fibroblasts, with a marked accumulation of non-acidified autophagic structures. Basal mitophagy was elevated in two out of three LSD patient cell lines compared to unaffected controls. LSD patient cells exhibited altered mitochondrial content and network architecture compared to controls. These phenotypes were accompanied by distinct changes in the endo-lysosomal system and increased cell size. The patient-derived cells exhibit a profound accumulation of lysosomes and autophagic structures. My findings are in accordance with previous research in the field, suggesting perturbed macroautophagy in this rare LSD. The observations of altered mitochondrial homeostasis in this LSD provide a basis for future investigation. The reporter-expressing cells, generated as part of this MSc thesis project, will enable future studies of mechanisms that underlie phenotypic changes, and will complement essential in vivo work in this area.

Aging is the progressive accumulation of cellular dysfunction, stress and inflammation. The mitochondrial network plays a central role in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis, with a growing body of evidence assigning dysfunctional regulation of this network as cause or effect of age-related diseases including metabolic disorders, neuropathies, various forms of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Neuronal sensitivity to changes in energy supply and metabolic homeostasis make neurons especially susceptible to alterations in the mitochondrial network. Mitophagy, a specified form of autophagy, is the selective degradation and quality control mechanism of mitochondria by engulfment and fusion with acidic endolysosomal compartments of the cell. Mitophagy has been extensively characterised in cultured cells and short-lived model organisms. However, our understanding of physiological mitophagy during mammalian aging is unknown. This study utilizes mito-QC mitophagy reporter mice that enable in vivo detection and monitoring of mitochondrial turnover due to the distinct physicochemical properties of the tandem GFP-mCherry reporter. Using cohort groups of young and aged reporter mice, age-dependent alterations of mitophagy were quantified in the cerebellum and the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of the retina. Specific autophagy and mitophagy markers were used to assess the longitudinal alterations in the mitophagic landscape. Images of fixed brain tissue sections were attained by high-speed spinning disc confocal microscopy for the quantitative and histological analysis. This study characterises the longitudinal alterations of mitophagy in distinct regions of the central nervous system (CNS) of mitophagy reporter mice, demonstrating tissue-specific alterations in mitochondrial turnover throughout physiological time. Åldrande kan definieras som den successiva ackumuleringen av cellulär dysfunktion, stress och inflammation. I upprätthållandet av cellens funktioner och homeostas har det mitokondriella nätverket en central roll. Omfattande forskning visar att åldersrelaterade sjukdomar såsom neuropati, ämnesomsättningssjukdomar, olika cancerformer samt neurodegenerativa sjukdomar föranleds av mitokondriell dysfunktion. Neuroner är beroende av oavbruten energitillförsel och upprätthållen metabolisk homeostas, vilket gör dem speciellt mottagliga för förändringar i det mitokondriella nätverket. Mitofagi är en selektiv form av autofagi som degenererar och kvalitetskontrollerar mitokondrier genom att leverera dem till lysosomer där de bryts ned av hydrolytiska enzymer. Den aktuella kunskapen inom regleringen av och mekanismerna bakom mitofagi baserar sig på gedigen forskning av kortlivade organismer och cellkulturer. Däremot är vår kunskap inom åldrandets inverkan på mitofagi i däggdjur begränsad. I denna studie används musmodellen mito-QC vars rapportörgen består av ett binärt GFP-mCherry-komplex som besitter olika fysikaliska och kemikaliska egenskaper, vilket möjliggör upptäckt och analys av mitofagi in vivo. En kvantitativ jämförelse av mitofagi i unga och åldrande möss genomfördes i vävnadssnitt av cerebellum och av det yttre nukleära lagret av retinan. Specifika autofagi- och mitofagimarkörer användes för att utvärdera de longitudinella förändringarna i mitokondriell degenerering. Bilder för kvantitativ och histologisk analys erhölls med höghastighets spinning-disk-konfokalmikroskop. Denna forskning karaktäriserar de longitudinella förändringarna av mitofagi i definierade regioner av det centrala nervsystemet i musmodellen mito-QC och presenterar vävnadsspecifika förändringar i degenereringen av mitokondrier under åldrandets framskridande.

Autophagy is an essential pathway that evolved to sustain cellular integrity by removing damaged and aged organelles. During this process, our cells sense, encapsulate and deliver defective cellular components to the lysosome for destruction. Over the past decade, many laboratories have demonstrated that damaged mitochondria can be selectively eliminated, during a process known as "mitophagy". Mitophagy senses, targets, and engulfs defective mitochondria for elimination via lysosomal hydrolysis. The identification of factors that promote or prevent mitophagy has high therapeutic relevance, particularly those that alter PINK1/Parkin-independent mitophagy. Recent research in the McWilliams lab uncovered a novel role for lipid metabolism in the regulation of PINK1/Parkin-independent mitophagy. Briefly, the team discovered that DGAT1-dependent lipid droplet (LD) biosynthesis occurred several hours upstream of mitochondrial clearance, with LDs accumulation upon iron chelation. LDs accumulate in a DGAT1-dependent fashion as mitochondria are eliminated. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of DGAT1, restricts mitophagy levels in vitro and in vivo. However, the mechanism that linked defective lipid metabolism to reduced mitophagy remained mysterious. We hypothesized that defective lipid signalling may compromise lysosomal activity leading to reduced levels of mitophagy. Accordingly, my project examined the functional contribution of DGAT-dependent LD biogenesis to lysosomal homeostasis in the context of PINK1/Parkin-independent mitophagy. After first verifying the DGAT1-dependent nature of LD accumulation in human cells, I established assays to investigate lysosomal homeostasis in the context of iron chelation-induced mitophagy. Using a variety of labelling approaches, live cell imaging experiments revealed a significant displacement of endolysosomes upon DGAT1/2 inhibition, in addition to possible alterations in lysosomal dynamics. My data suggest that loss of DGAT1 activity impairs lysosomal homeostasis when iron levels are low. This likely explains the mitophagy impairments and might account for additional phenotypes of impaired cell viability upon DGAT1 inhibition. Changes in lysosomal acidity were inconclusive, indicating further timepoints may need to be analysed to detect transient impairments in hydrolysis. My results emphasize the importance of organelle crosstalk in mitophagy and the emerging role of LDs in cellular integrity. These data further highlight that targeting lipid metabolism may provide a means to sustain efficient mitochondrial turnover.