RESUMO
The etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) converges on a common pathogenic pathway of mitochondrial defects in which α-Synuclein (αSyn) is thought to play a role. However, the mechanisms by which αSyn and its disease-associated allelic variants cause mitochondrial dysfunction remain unknown. Here, we analyzed mitochondrial axonal transport and morphology in human-derived neurons overexpressing wild-type (WT) αSyn or the mutated variants A30P or A53T, which are known to have differential lipid affinities. A53T αSyn was enriched in mitochondrial fractions, inducing significant mitochondrial transport defects and fragmentation, while milder defects were elicited by WT and A30P. We found that αSyn-mediated mitochondrial fragmentation was linked to expression levels in WT and A53T variants. Targeted delivery of WT and A53T αSyn to the outer mitochondrial membrane further increased fragmentation, whereas A30P did not. Genomic editing to disrupt the N-terminal domain of αSyn, which is important for membrane association, resulted in mitochondrial elongation without changes in fusion-fission protein levels, suggesting that αSyn plays a direct physiological role in mitochondrial size maintenance. Thus, we demonstrate that the association of αSyn with the mitochondria, which is modulated by protein mutation and dosage, influences mitochondrial transport and morphology, highlighting its relevance in a common pathway impaired in PD.
Assuntos
Homeostase , Mitocôndrias/metabolismo , Neurônios/patologia , Doença de Parkinson/genética , Doença de Parkinson/patologia , alfa-Sinucleína/genética , alfa-Sinucleína/metabolismo , Transporte Axonal , Células-Tronco Embrionárias Humanas/metabolismo , Humanos , Membranas Mitocondriais/metabolismo , Proteínas Mutantes/metabolismo , Tamanho das Organelas , Domínios Proteicos , alfa-Sinucleína/químicaRESUMO
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are hypersensitive to genotoxic stress and display lower survival ability relative to their differentiated progeny. Herein, we attempted to investigate the source of this difference by comparing the DNA damage responses triggered by the topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin, in hESCs, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and hESCs-derived neuroprogenitors (NP). We observed that upon camptothecin exposure pluripotent stem cells underwent apoptosis more swiftly and at a higher rate than differentiated cells. However, the cellular response encompassing ataxia-telangiectasia mutated kinase activation and p53 phosphorylation both on serine 15 as well as on serine 46 resulted very similar among the aforementioned cell types. Importantly, we observed that hESCs and hiPSCs express lower levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 than NP. To assess whether Bcl-2 abundance could account for this differential response we treated cells with ABT-263, WEHI-539 and ABT-199, small molecules that preferentially target the BH3-binding pocket of Bcl-xL and/or Bcl-2 and reduce their ability to sequester pro-apoptotic factors. We found that in the absence of stress stimuli, NP exhibited a higher sensitivity to ABT- 263 and WEHI-539 than hESCs and hiPSCs. Conversely, all tested cell types appeared to be highly resistant to the Bcl-2 specific inhibitor, ABT-199. However, in all cases we determined that ABT-263 or WEHI-539 treatment exacerbated camptothecin-induced apoptosis. Importantly, similar responses were observed after siRNA-mediated down-regulation of Bcl-xL or Bcl-2. Taken together, our results suggest that Bcl-xL contrary to Bcl-2 contributes to ensure cell survival and also functions as a primary suppressor of DNA double-strand brake induced apoptosis both in pluripotent and derived NP cells. The emerging knowledge of the relative dependence of pluripotent and progenitor cells on Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL activities may help to predict cellular responses and potentially manipulate these cells for therapeutic purposes in the near future.