The role of the synaptic vesicle protein SV2A in regulating mitochondrial morphology and autophagy

The synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) is a transmembrane protein of synaptic vesicles. It is involved in key functions of neurons, focused on the regulation of neurotransmitter release. Here we report three novel findings suggesting a completely new role of SV2A. First, we demonstrate that SV2A is localized at the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) using confocal and super-resolution microscopy. Second, Inactivation of SV2A in our cell and animal models leads to fragmented mitochondria. In addition, SV2A also affects the basal autophagic flux as well as mitophagy. Third, using proteomics analysis we demonstrate that SV2A interacts with the fission factor DRP1 and the autophagy factor ATG9A. Using AlphaFold3 we provide a first glimpse of the molecular interaction between DRP1 and SV2A. Our findings demonstrate that SV2A is not only a vesicular protein but also a mitochondrial protein in the OMM with defined functions regulating mitochondrial morphology and autophagy.