Sirtuin 3 inhibition induces mitochondrial stress in tongue cancer by targeting mitochondrial fission and the JNK-Fis1 biological axis

HSP70 attenuates compression-induced apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells by suppressing mitochondrial fission via upregulating the expression of SIRT3

Compression-induced apoptosis of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Recent studies have shown that the dysregulation of mitochondrial fission and fusion is implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases. However, its role in and regulatory effects on compression-induced apoptosis of NP cells have not yet been fully elucidated. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is a major cytoprotective heat shock protein, but its physiological role in IVDD, especially its effect on mitochondrial fission and fusion, is still unknown. Herein, we found that compression could induce mitochondrial fission, which ultimately trigger apoptosis of NP cells via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In addition, we identified the cytoprotective effects of HSP70 on NP cells, and we found that promoting the expression of HSP70 could protect NP cells from abnormal mechanical loading in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we showed that HSP70 inhibited compression-induced mitochondrial fission by promoting SIRT3 expression, thereby attenuating mitochondrial dysfunction and the production of reactive oxygen species and ultimately inhibiting the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in NP cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that HSP70 could attenuate compression-induced apoptosis of NP cells by suppressing mitochondrial fission via upregulating SIRT3 expression. Promoting the expression of HSP70 might be a novel strategy for the treatment of IVDD.

A so-called chaperone protein that assists other proteins in correctly folding helps to prevent compression-induced cell death in the intervertebral discs responsible for cushioning the spine. Binwu Hu from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, and coworkers showed that mitochondria in the cells from the jelly-like substance found in vertebral discs in the spine tended to divide when exposed to abnormal mechanical loading. This fission resulted in cell death. In cell culture experiments and in mice, the researchers found that boosting levels of the molecular chaperone HSP70 (heat shock protein 70) prevented this mitochondrial dysfunction, in part by activating another stress-response protein called SIRT3. The findings point to HSP70 as a promising drug target for addressing intervertebral disc degeneration, a common cause of chronic back pain.

Mitochondrial quality control in cartilage damage and osteoarthritis: new insights and potential therapeutic targets

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial arthritic disease of weight-bearing joints concomitant with chronic and intolerable pain, loss of locomotion and impaired quality of life in the elderly population. Although the prevalence of OA increases with age, its specific mechanisms have not been elucidated and effective therapeutic disease-modifying drugs have not been developed. As essential organelles in chondrocytes, mitochondria supply energy and play vital roles in cellular metabolism, proliferation and apoptosis. Mitochondrial quality control (MQC) is the key mechanism to coordinate various mitochondrial biofunctions, primarily through mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamics, autophagy and the newly discovered mitocytosis. An increasing number of studies have revealed that a loss of MQC homeostasis contributes to the cartilage damage during the occurrence and development of OA. Several master MQC-associated signaling pathways and regulators exert chondroprotective roles in OA, while cartilage damage-related molecular mechanisms have been partially identified. In this review, we summarized known mechanisms mediated by dysregulated MQC in the pathogenesis of OA and latent bioactive ingredients and drugs for the prevention and treatment of OA through the maintenance of MQC.

Publication Trends on Mitophagy in the World and China: A 16-Year Bibliometric Analysis

In the past 16 years, research on mitophagy has increasingly expanded to a wider range of subjects. Therefore, comprehensively analyzing the relevant progress and development trends on mitophagy research requires specific methods. To assess the hotspots, directions, and quality of results in this field worldwide, we used multiple tools to examine research progress and growing trends in research on the matter during the last 16 years (from 2005 to 2020). We also compared the quantity and quality of the literature records on mitophagy published by research institutions in China and other developed countries, reviewed China’s contribution, and examined the gap between China and these developed countries. According to the results of our bibliometric analysis, the United States and its research institutes published the most papers. We identified cell biology as the most commonly researched subject on mitophagy and AUTOPHAGY as the most popular journal for research on mitophagy. We also listed the most cited documents from around the world and China. With gradually increased funding, China is progressively becoming prominent in the field of mitophagy; nevertheless, the gap between her and major countries in the world must be closed.

Paraoxonase 2 protects against the CML mediated mitochondrial dysfunction through modulating JNK pathway in human retinal cells

BACKGROUND

Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) a known anti-apoptotic protein, has not been explored against N^ε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), induced mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in human retinal cells. Hence this present study aims to investigate the potential role of PON2 in mitigating CML-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in these cells.

METHODS

PON2 protein was quantified in HRECs (Human retinal endothelial cells), ARPE-19 (Retinal pigment epithelial cells) cells upon CML treatment and also in cadaveric diabetic retina vs respective controls. ROS production, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening, the release of Cyt-c, Bax, Caspase-3, Fis1, Mfn1, Mfn2, mitochondrial morphology, and the signaling pathway was assessed using DCFDA, JC-1, CoCl₂, immunofluorescence or western blotting analysis in both loss-of-function or gain-of-function experiments.

RESULTS

PON2 protein was downregulated in HREC and ARPE-19 cells upon CML treatment as well as in the diabetic retina (p = 0.035). Decrease in PON2 augments Fis1 expression resulting in fragmentation of mitochondria and enhances the ROS production, decreases MMP, facilitates mPTP opening, and induces the release of Cyt-c, which activates the pro-apoptotic pathway. Whereas PON2 overexpression similar to SP600125 (a specific JNK inhibitor) was able to decrease Fis1 (p = 0.036) and reverse the Bcl-2 and Bax ratio, and inhibit the JNK1/2 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

Our results confirm that PON2 has an anti-apoptotic role against the CML mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and inhibits apoptosis through the JNK-Fis1 axis.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE

We hypothesis that enhancing PON2 may provide a better therapeutic potential against diabetic vascular disease.

Mitochondrial network remodeling: an important feature of myogenesis and skeletal muscle regeneration

The remodeling of the mitochondrial network is a critical process in maintaining cellular homeostasis and is intimately related to mitochondrial function. The interplay between the formation of new mitochondria (biogenesis) and the removal of damaged mitochondria (mitophagy) provide a means for the repopulation of the mitochondrial network. Additionally, mitochondrial fission and fusion serve as a bridge between biogenesis and mitophagy. In recent years, the importance of these processes has been characterised in multiple tissue- and cell-types, and under various conditions. In skeletal muscle, the robust remodeling of the mitochondrial network is observed, particularly after injury where large portions of the tissue/cell structures are damaged. The significance of mitochondrial remodeling in regulating skeletal muscle regeneration has been widely studied, with alterations in mitochondrial remodeling processes leading to incomplete regeneration and impaired skeletal muscle function. Needless to say, important questions related to mitochondrial remodeling and skeletal muscle regeneration still remain unanswered and require further investigation. Therefore, this review will discuss the known molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial network remodeling, as well as integrate these mechanisms and discuss their relevance in myogenesis and regenerating skeletal muscle.

FIS1 Overexpression Is Correlated with Tumor Metastasis in Gastric Adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Due to poor prognosis and treatment failure, gastric cancer (GC) is still regarded as one of the deadliest malignancies worldwide, demanding new molecular targets for therapeutic and diagnostic approaches. Therefore, the current study was aimed to investigate the expression levels of FIS1 gene involving in mitochondrial fission as a promising target in gastric tumor progression.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of eighty clinical tissue samples including 40 gastric primary tumor samples and 40 paired marginal samples were prepared. Total RNA was extracted and reverse transcribed to complementary DNA. Then, FIS1 expression levels were quantified in GC samples compared to normal ones using q-PCR. Furthermore, the correlation between FIS1 expression and clinicopathological features of patients was evaluated.

RESULTS

The obtained results illustrated that FIS1 is significantly (p = 0.0013) overexpressed in gastric tumors compared to noncancerous marginal tissues; indicating the possible role of FIS1 through gastric tumorigenesis. Further analysis showed that FIS1 upregulation was significantly (p = 0.0419) correlated with metastasis in patients. Also, ROC curve analysis estimated an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.7209 for FIS1 to discriminate cancer patients from healthy cases.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, our findings suggested FIS1 as a promising tumor marker where its overexpression predicts tumor metastasis of gastric cancer.

The ambiguous role of sirtuins in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Oral cancer is one of the most leading cancer responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. The sirtuins (SIRTs) are a family of class III histone deacetylases and are known to regulate a variety of molecular signaling associated with different cancer types including oral malignancies. SIRT1 acts as bifunctional in a variety of cancer. In oral cancer, SIRT1 seems to work as a tumor suppressor. The carcinogenic potential of SIRT1 is also reported in oral cancer, and hence, its role is still ambiguous. SIRT2 is also said to play a dual-faced role in different types of cancers. However, in oral cancer, SIRT2 is not studied and its role remains obscure. SIRT3 expression was positively correlated with oral malignancies. However, studies also showed the anti-cancer role of SIRT3 in oral cancer. SIRT7 loss was observed in oral cancer cells, while its overexpression caused the suppression of oral cancer cells proliferation, migration, and invasiveness. The role of other SIRTs in oral cancer was studied meagerly or reports not available. To date, only the roles of SIRT1, SIRT3, and SIRT7 have been reported in oral malignancies. Therefore, understanding the regulatory mechanisms employed by sirtuins to modulate oral cancer is important for developing potential anti-cancer therapeutic strategies.

SIRT3 deficiency increases mitochondrial oxidative stress and promotes migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells

Retinal pigment epithelial cells are closely associated with the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. The mechanism by which diabetes impacts retinal pigment epithelial cell function is of significant interest. Sirtuins are an important class of proteins that primarily possess nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylases activity and involved in various cellular physiological and pathological processes. Here, we aimed to examine the role of sirtuins in the induction of diabetes-associated retinal pigment epithelial cell dysfunction. High glucose and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) treatment induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells, and decreased sirtuin-3 expression. Sirtuin-3 knockdown using siRNA increased epithelial-mesenchymal transition and migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells. In contrast, sirtuin-3 overexpression attenuated the effects caused by high glucose and PDGF on epithelial-mesenchymal transition and migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells, suggesting that sirtuin-3 deficiency contributed to retinal pigment epithelial cell dysfunction induced by high glucose and PDGF. Mechanistically, sirtuin-3 deficiency induced retinal pigment epithelial cell dysfunction by the overproduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. These results suggest that sirtuin-3 deficiency mediates the migration of retinal pigment epithelial cells, at least partially by increasing mitochondrial oxidative stress, and shed light on the importance of sirtuin-3 and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species as potential targets in diabetic retinopathy therapy.

Mitochondrial Fission Protein 1: Emerging Roles in Organellar Form and Function in Health and Disease

Mitochondrial fission protein 1 (Fis1) was identified in yeast as being essential for mitochondrial division or fission and subsequently determined to mediate human mitochondrial and peroxisomal fission. Yet, its exact functions in humans, especially in regard to mitochondrial fission, remains an enigma as genetic deletion of Fis1 elongates mitochondria in some cell types, but not others. Fis1 has also been identified as an important component of apoptotic and mitophagic pathways suggesting the protein may have multiple, essential roles. This review presents current perspectives on the emerging functions of Fis1 and their implications in human health and diseases, with an emphasis on Fis1's role in both endocrine and neurological disorders.

"The Loss of Golden Touch": Mitochondria-Organelle Interactions, Metabolism, and Cancer

Mitochondria represent the energy hub of cells and their function is under the constant influence of their tethering with other subcellular organelles. Mitochondria interact with the endoplasmic reticulum, lysosomes, cytoskeleton, peroxisomes, and nucleus in several ways, ranging from signal transduction, vesicle transport, and membrane contact sites, to regulate energy metabolism, biosynthetic processes, apoptosis, and cell turnover. Tumorigenesis is often associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, which could likely be the result of an altered interaction with different cell organelles or structures. The purpose of the present review is to provide an updated overview of the links between inter-organellar communications and interactions and metabolism in cancer cells, with a focus on mitochondria. The very recent publication of several reviews on these aspects testifies the great interest in the area. Here, we aim at (1) summarizing recent evidence supporting that the metabolic rewiring and adaptation observed in tumors deeply affect organelle dynamics and cellular functions and vice versa; (2) discussing insights on the underlying mechanisms, when available; and (3) critically presenting the gaps in the field that need to be filled, for a comprehensive understanding of tumor cells’ biology. Chemo-resistance and druggable vulnerabilities of cancer cells related to the aspects mentioned above is also outlined.

Intimate Relations-Mitochondria and Ageing

Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with ageing, but the detailed causal relationship between the two is still unclear. We review the major phenomenological manifestations of mitochondrial age-related dysfunction including biochemical, regulatory and energetic features. We conclude that the complexity of these processes and their inter-relationships are still not fully understood and at this point it seems unlikely that a single linear cause and effect relationship between any specific aspect of mitochondrial biology and ageing can be established in either direction.

The role of SIRT3-mediated mitochondrial homeostasis in osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint disease and causes major pain and disability in adults. It has been reported that mitochondrial dysfunction in chondrocytes is associated with osteoarthritis. Sirtuins are a family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent histone deacetylases that have the ability to deacetylate protein targets and play an important role in the regulation of cell physiological and pathological processes. Among sirtuin family members, sirtuin 3, which is mainly located in mitochondria, can exert its deacetylation activity to regulate mitochondrial function, regeneration, and dynamics; these processes are presently recognized to maintain redox homeostasis to prevent oxidative stress in cell metabolism. In this review, we provide present opinions on the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction in osteoarthritis. Furthermore, the potential protective mechanism of SIRT3-mediated mitochondrial homeostasis in the progression of osteoarthritis is discussed.

Hypoxia-induced NAD+ interventions promote tumor survival and metastasis by regulating mitochondrial dynamics

Hypoxia, an important feature of the tumor microenvironment, is responsible for the chemo-resistance and metastasis of malignant solid tumors. Recent studies indicated that mitochondria undergo morphological transitions as an adaptive response to maintain self-stability and connectivity under hypoxic conditions. NAD⁺ may not only provide reducing equivalents for biosynthetic reactions and in determining energy production, but also functions as a signaling molecule in mitochondrial dynamics regulation. In this review, we describe the upregulated KDAC deacetylase expression in the mitochondria and cytoplasm of tumor cells that results from sensing the changes in NAD⁺ to control mitochondrial dynamics and distribution, which is responsible for survival and metastasis in hypoxia.

Mitochondrial Dynamics of Proximal Tubular Epithelial Cells in Nephropathic Cystinosis

Nephropathic cystinosis is a rare lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in CTNS gene leading to Fanconi syndrome. Independent studies reported defective clearance of damaged mitochondria and mitochondrial fragmentation in cystinosis. Proteins involved in the mitochondrial dynamics and the mitochondrial ultrastructure were analyzed in CTNS-/- cells treated with cysteamine, the only drug currently used in the therapy for cystinosis but ineffective to treat Fanconi syndrome. CTNS-/- cells showed an overexpression of parkin associated with deregulation of ubiquitination of mitofusin 2 and fission 1 proteins, an altered proteolytic processing of optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), and a decreased OPA1 oligomerization. According to molecular findings, the analysis of electron microscopy images showed a decrease of mitochondrial cristae number and an increase of cristae lumen and cristae junction width. Cysteamine treatment restored the fission 1 ubiquitination, the mitochondrial size, number and lumen of cristae, but had no effect on cristae junction width, making CTNS-/- tubular cells more susceptible to apoptotic stimuli.

Irisin ameliorates septic cardiomyopathy via inhibiting DRP1-related mitochondrial fission and normalizing the JNK-LATS2 signaling pathway

Irisin plays a protective effect in acute and chronic myocardial damage, but its role in septic cardiomyopathy is unclear. The aim of our study was to explore the in vivo and in vitro effects of irisin using an LPS-induced septic cardiomyopathy model. Our results demonstrated that irisin treatment attenuated LPS-mediated cardiomyocyte death and myocardial dysfunction. At the molecular level, LPS application was associated with mitochondrial oxidative injury, cardiomyocyte ATP depletion and caspase-related apoptosis activation. In contrast, the irisin treatment sustained mitochondrial function by inhibiting DRP1-related mitochondrial fission and the reactivation of mitochondrial fission impaired the protective action of irisin on inflammation-attacked mitochondria and cardiomyocytes. Additionally, we found that irisin modulated DRP1-related mitochondrial fission through the JNK-LATS2 signaling pathway. JNK activation and/or LATS2 overexpression abolished the beneficial effects of irisin on LPS-mediated mitochondrial stress and cardiomyocyte death. Altogether, our results illustrate that LPS-mediated activation of DRP1-related mitochondrial fission through the JNK-LATS2 pathway participates in the pathogenesis of septic cardiomyopathy. Irisin could be used in the future as an effective therapy for sepsis-induced myocardial depression because it corrects DRP1-related mitochondrial fission and normalizes the JNK-LATS2 signaling pathway.