Mitochondrial protein import clogging as a mechanism of disease
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eLife assessment
This manuscript provides valuable insight into the molecular mechanism by which destabilized mitochondrial proteins 'clog' import channels and contribute to the pathologic mitochondrial and cellular dysfunction implicated in human disease. The evidence supporting this conclusion is solid, utilizing yeast, mammalian cell culture, and mouse models. However, additional characterization of import clogging in the mammalian model systems would strengthen this study. This work will be of broad interest to researchers in the fields of mitochondrial biology, protein quality control and proteostasis.
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Abstract
Mitochondrial biogenesis requires the import of >1,000 mitochondrial preproteins from the cytosol. Most studies on mitochondrial protein import are focused on the core import machinery. Whether and how the biophysical properties of substrate preproteins affect overall import efficiency is underexplored. Here, we show that protein traffic into mitochondria can be disrupted by amino acid substitutions in a single substrate preprotein. Pathogenic missense mutations in ADP/ATP translocase 1 (ANT1), and its yeast homolog ADP/ATP carrier 2 (Aac2), cause the protein to accumulate along the protein import pathway, thereby obstructing general protein translocation into mitochondria. This impairs mitochondrial respiration, cytosolic proteostasis, and cell viability independent of ANT1’s nucleotide transport activity. The mutations act synergistically, as double mutant Aac2/ANT1 causes severe clogging primarily at the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) complex. This confers extreme toxicity in yeast. In mice, expression of a super-clogger ANT1 variant led to neurodegeneration and an age-dependent dominant myopathy that phenocopy ANT1-induced human disease, suggesting clogging as a mechanism of disease. More broadly, this work implies the existence of uncharacterized amino acid requirements for mitochondrial carrier proteins to avoid clogging and subsequent disease.
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Author Response
Reviewer #3 (Public Review):
Dominant pathogenic variants of the Aac2/Ant1 ATP transporter cause disease by an unknown mechanism. In this manuscript the authors aim to reveal how these gain of function mutants impair cellular and mitochondrial health. To characterize the phenotype of Aac2 mutants in yeast, the authors use a series of single and double Aac2 mutations, within the 2nd and 3rd transmembrane domains that are associated with human diseases. Aac2A128P,A137D mutant, which caused high toxicity and damaged the mitochondrial DNA was selected for further analysis. This mutant was not imported efficiently into mitochondria and exhibited an increased association with TOM, suggesting that it clogs the TOM translocase. As a result, expression of Aac2A128P,A137D led to impaired import of other mitochondrial proteins. …
Author Response
Reviewer #3 (Public Review):
Dominant pathogenic variants of the Aac2/Ant1 ATP transporter cause disease by an unknown mechanism. In this manuscript the authors aim to reveal how these gain of function mutants impair cellular and mitochondrial health. To characterize the phenotype of Aac2 mutants in yeast, the authors use a series of single and double Aac2 mutations, within the 2nd and 3rd transmembrane domains that are associated with human diseases. Aac2A128P,A137D mutant, which caused high toxicity and damaged the mitochondrial DNA was selected for further analysis. This mutant was not imported efficiently into mitochondria and exhibited an increased association with TOM, suggesting that it clogs the TOM translocase. As a result, expression of Aac2A128P,A137D led to impaired import of other mitochondrial proteins. Several findings suggested that the single mutant Aac2A128P impaired mitochondrial import in a similar manner: 1. Mass spec analysis revealed its increased association with cytosolic chaperones, TOM and TIM22 subunits, 2. Aac2A128P overexpression led to global mitochondrial protein import deficiency, demonstrated by HSP60 precursor accumulation and activation of stress responses (transcription of chaperons, proteosome induction, and CIS1). Parallel mutants of human Ant1 (AntA114P and Ant1A114P,A123D) were ectopically expressed in HeLa cells. The mutants were demonstrated to clog TOM and cause a global defect in mitochondrial protein import. This was confirmed in tissues from Ant1A114P,A123D/+ knock-in mice. The Ant1A114P,A123D/+ mice exhibited decreased maximal mitochondrial respiration in muscles. Examination of the skeletal muscle myofiber diameter and COX and SDH activity revealed that Ant1A114P,A123D expression in heterozygous mice acts dominantly and causes a myopathic phenotype and in some case neurodegeneration.
Major strengths -
The ability of proteins to clog TOM and sequentially disrupt protein import into mitochondria was demonstrated in recent years. However, till now this was achieved using chemicals, artificial cloggers and overexpression of mitochondrial proteins. This study reveals, for the first time, that disease associated variants of native mitochondrial proteins can clog the entry into the organelle. Thus, this work demonstrates that TOM clogging is a physiological relevant phenomenon that is involved in human diseases.
The manuscript is well-written and the experiments are well-designed, presenting convincing data that mostly support the conclusions. The methods used are well-establish and suitable techniques that are often used in the field. This work took advantage of 3 different biological systems/model organism, yeast, cell culture, and mice tissues, to validate the results, show conservation, and exploit the strengths of each system.
Overall, this study is impactful, greatly contributes to the field and should be of interest to the general scientific community. The work sheds light of the mechanisms by which Ant1 pathogenic mutants impact cellular health and provides evidence for the involvement of translocases clogging and impaired protein import in human diseases. The gain of function Aac2/Ant1 mutants will provide a new and powerful tool for future studies of mitochondrial quality control and repair mechanisms.
Major weaknesses -
- The evidence for clogging of mitochondrial translocases and for general defect in protein import are solid. However, there are not enough evidence to conclude that all phenotype seen in mice and yeast are directly connected to clogging.
We completely agree with the reviewer that it is unreasonable to ascribe all phenotypes seen in mice and yeast directly to clogging. We are very open to the possibility that other unknown mechanisms contribute as well. The language in the manuscript has been modified to reflect this.
- This work implies that Aac2/Ant1 variants can clog TOM, TIM22, or both. Clogging of TIM22 is novel and interesting but is not fully discussed in the manuscript, as well as the possibility that clogging of different translocases can result in different defects.
We thank the reviewer for this comment, and have directly addressed this in the revised manuscript. We added some speculation but overall, we prefer to keep this brief because the precise mechanism of carrier protein import and IMM insertion by the TIM22 complex remains unresolved, making an extensive discussion on its clogging premature.
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eLife assessment
This manuscript provides valuable insight into the molecular mechanism by which destabilized mitochondrial proteins 'clog' import channels and contribute to the pathologic mitochondrial and cellular dysfunction implicated in human disease. The evidence supporting this conclusion is solid, utilizing yeast, mammalian cell culture, and mouse models. However, additional characterization of import clogging in the mammalian model systems would strengthen this study. This work will be of broad interest to researchers in the fields of mitochondrial biology, protein quality control and proteostasis.
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Reviewer #1 (Public Review):
This is an interesting manuscript that highlights the potential for 'clogging' of import channels by mutant proteins to promote mitochondrial dysfunction in disease. One of the challenges with this study is deconvoluting potential loss-of-function phenotypes associated with reductions in ANT1/AAC2 from gain-of-toxicity phenotypes linked to import clogging. This was addressed primarily in yeast, showing that phenotypes associated with overexpression of mutants (e.g., reduced growth on glucose media). The experiment showing that yeast AAC2 clogs import was also convincing including both in vitro and in vivo characterization, although it isn't clear why the proteomic experiments were performed with acute expression of A128P instead of the 'superclogger' double mutant. The extension of this work to mammalian …
Reviewer #1 (Public Review):
This is an interesting manuscript that highlights the potential for 'clogging' of import channels by mutant proteins to promote mitochondrial dysfunction in disease. One of the challenges with this study is deconvoluting potential loss-of-function phenotypes associated with reductions in ANT1/AAC2 from gain-of-toxicity phenotypes linked to import clogging. This was addressed primarily in yeast, showing that phenotypes associated with overexpression of mutants (e.g., reduced growth on glucose media). The experiment showing that yeast AAC2 clogs import was also convincing including both in vitro and in vivo characterization, although it isn't clear why the proteomic experiments were performed with acute expression of A128P instead of the 'superclogger' double mutant. The extension of this work to mammalian cells and then mice is also admirable. However, the quality of characterization does begin to decline when moving into mammalian models. For example, there is no clear evidence that observed phenotypes can be attributed to gain of toxicity instead of loss of function in mammalian cells and mice. There are similarities to yeast, but this needs to be better defined in my opinion. Lastly, I have questions related to the mouse model, such as how do these phenotypes compare to KO animals and why were homozygous mice used in some situations and heterozygous mice used in others.
Overall, this manuscript is interesting, as it describes a mechanism whereby mutant proteins can lead to import deficiencies in the context of disease. The strengths primarily reside with the yeast work, where the demonstration of import clogging and the functional implications of this clogging are best defined. The transition to mammalian cells and mice is admirable as well, but doesn't reach the same level of characterization, leaving open the possibility that the observed effects could be attributed (at least in part) to loss of function of ANT1.
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Reviewer #2 (Public Review):
Mitochondrial dysfunction is now widely recognized as an underlying cause of many human diseases. In many cases, however, very little is known about the molecular etiology of mitochondrial disorders. In this comprehensive study Coyne et al. describe a mechanism by which dominant pathogenic variants of adenine nucleotide translocase Aac2p/ANT1 impair mitochondrial protein import pathway leading to cytotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction. By elucidating the fate of this protein in yeast, human cell culture, and murine models, the authors showed that mutant Aac2p variants accumulate the outer membrane translocase TOM complex jamming up mitochondrial protein import and affecting TIM22-mediated carrier import pathway, thus causing proteostatic stress. Furthermore, they showed that the i-AAA protease Yme1p and …
Reviewer #2 (Public Review):
Mitochondrial dysfunction is now widely recognized as an underlying cause of many human diseases. In many cases, however, very little is known about the molecular etiology of mitochondrial disorders. In this comprehensive study Coyne et al. describe a mechanism by which dominant pathogenic variants of adenine nucleotide translocase Aac2p/ANT1 impair mitochondrial protein import pathway leading to cytotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction. By elucidating the fate of this protein in yeast, human cell culture, and murine models, the authors showed that mutant Aac2p variants accumulate the outer membrane translocase TOM complex jamming up mitochondrial protein import and affecting TIM22-mediated carrier import pathway, thus causing proteostatic stress. Furthermore, they showed that the i-AAA protease Yme1p and not the ubiquitin-proteasome system is responsible for proteolytic removal of the mutant Aac2p variants. Finally, the demonstrated that mitochondrial protein import clogging caused by the ANT1 A114P, A123D variant causes severe dominant neurodegenerative phenotype in mice, which resembles neuromuscular disease manifestations in humans. The authors propose this as a candidate pathological mechanism in ANT1-linked human disorders and by extension, to other diseases arising from defects in mitochondrial protein import.
Overall, this is a well-designed and thoroughly executed study that reports on a novel aspect of ANT1 associated dysfunction and provides mechanistic insights into the pathological mechanisms at play.
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Reviewer #3 (Public Review):
Dominant pathogenic variants of the Aac2/Ant1 ATP transporter cause disease by an unknown mechanism. In this manuscript the authors aim to reveal how these gain of function mutants impair cellular and mitochondrial health. To characterize the phenotype of Aac2 mutants in yeast, the authors use a series of single and double Aac2 mutations, within the 2nd and 3rd transmembrane domains that are associated with human diseases. Aac2A128P,A137D mutant, which caused high toxicity and damaged the mitochondrial DNA was selected for further analysis. This mutant was not imported efficiently into mitochondria and exhibited an increased association with TOM, suggesting that it clogs the TOM translocase. As a result, expression of Aac2A128P,A137D led to impaired import of other mitochondrial proteins. Several findings …
Reviewer #3 (Public Review):
Dominant pathogenic variants of the Aac2/Ant1 ATP transporter cause disease by an unknown mechanism. In this manuscript the authors aim to reveal how these gain of function mutants impair cellular and mitochondrial health. To characterize the phenotype of Aac2 mutants in yeast, the authors use a series of single and double Aac2 mutations, within the 2nd and 3rd transmembrane domains that are associated with human diseases. Aac2A128P,A137D mutant, which caused high toxicity and damaged the mitochondrial DNA was selected for further analysis. This mutant was not imported efficiently into mitochondria and exhibited an increased association with TOM, suggesting that it clogs the TOM translocase. As a result, expression of Aac2A128P,A137D led to impaired import of other mitochondrial proteins. Several findings suggested that the single mutant Aac2A128P impaired mitochondrial import in a similar manner: 1. mass spec analysis revealed its increased association with cytosolic chaperones, TOM and TIM22 subunits, 2. Aac2A128P overexpression led to global mitochondrial protein import deficiency, demonstrated by HSP60 precursor accumulation and activation of stress responses (transcription of chaperons, proteosome induction, and CIS1).
Parallel mutants of human Ant1 (AntA114P and Ant1A114P,A123D) were ectopically expressed in HeLa cells. The mutants were demonstrated to clog TOM and cause a global defect in mitochondrial protein import. This was confirmed in tissues from Ant1A114P,A123D/+ knock-in mice. The Ant1A114P,A123D/+ mice exhibited decreased maximal mitochondrial respiration in muscles. Examination of the skeletal muscle myofiber diameter and COX and SDH activity revealed that Ant1A114P,A123D expression in heterozygous mice acts dominantly and causes a myopathic phenotype and in some case neurodegeneration.Major strengths -
The ability of proteins to clog TOM and sequentially disrupt protein import into mitochondria was demonstrated in recent years. However, till now this was achieved using chemicals, artificial cloggers and overexpression of mitochondrial proteins. This study reveals, for the first time, that disease associated variants of native mitochondrial proteins can clog the entry into the organelle. Thus, this work demonstrates that TOM clogging is a physiological relevant phenomenon that is involved in human diseases.
The manuscript is well-written and the experiments are well-designed, presenting convincing data that mostly support the conclusions. The methods used are well-establish and suitable techniques that are often used in the field. This work took advantage of 3 different biological systems/model organism, yeast, cell culture, and mice tissues, to validate the results, show conservation, and exploit the strengths of each system.
Overall, this study is impactful, greatly contributes to the field and should be of interest to the general scientific community. The work sheds light of the mechanisms by which Ant1 pathogenic mutants impact cellular health and provides evidence for the involvement of translocases clogging and impaired protein import in human diseases. The gain of function Aac2/Ant1 mutants will provide a new and powerful tool for future studies of mitochondrial quality control and repair mechanisms.
Major weaknesses -
1. The evidence for clogging of mitochondrial translocases and for general defect in protein import are solid. However, there are not enough evidence to conclude that all phenotype seen in mice and yeast are directly connected to clogging.
2. This work implies that Aac2/Ant1 variants can clogg TOM, TIM22, or both. Clogging of TIM22 is novel and interesting but is not fully discussed in the manuscript, as well as the possibility that clogging of different translocases can result in different defects.
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