Mitofusin 2-deficiency suppresses cell proliferation through disturbance of autophagy

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 17;10(3):e0121328. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121328. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Mitofusin2 (Mfn2), a mitochondrial outer membrane protein serving primarily as a mitochondrial fusion protein, has multiple functions in regulating cell biological processes. Defects of Mfn2 were found in diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study, we found that knockdown of Mfn2 by shRNA led to impaired autophagic degradation, inhibited mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate and cell glycolysis, reduced ATP production, and suppressed cell proliferation. Inhibition of autophagic degradation mimicked Mfn2-deficiency mediated cell proliferation suppression, while enhancement of autophagosome maturation restored the suppressed cell proliferation by Mfn2-deficiency. Thus, our findings revealed the role of Mfn2 in regulating cell proliferation and mitochondrial metabolism, and shed new light on understanding the mechanisms of Mfn2 deficiency related diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Autophagy*
  • Cell Proliferation*
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / deficiency*
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Mitochondria / metabolism*
  • Mitochondrial Proteins / deficiency*

Substances

  • Mitochondrial Proteins
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases
  • MFN2 protein, human

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2013CB512103 & 2014CB542206), and the National Science Foundation of China (31371350 & 30971062). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.