Structural and mechanistic investigation on mitochondrial fusion.
Résumé
Mitochondria are key organelles that change their size, shape and morphology undergoing
a series of fusion and fission events, referred as mitochondrial dynamics. Dysfunctional
mitochondrial dynamics are associated with major neurodegenerative disorders [1]. Pivotal
components mediating the fusion and fission process of the outer/inner membrane(s) belong to the
dynamin family of GTPases named DRPs [2]. While the ability of DRPs to mediate membrane
fission is well documented, the mechanism of outer-membrane Fusion DRPs, named mitofusins
are poorly understood. Recently this deadlock was partially circumvented with solving the
truncated structures of human mitofusins MFN1 and MFN2 [3], [4]. The crystallographic structure
of these mini-MFNs revealed that its fold is strikingly similar to that of the corresponding portion
of BDLP, the Bacterial Dynamin Related Protein from the cyanobacteria Nostoc punctiforme [3],
[5]. BDLP is a close relative of the yeast mitofusin Fzo1 (20% identity and 41% similarity). GTP
binding by BDLP results in a switch from a compact structure to an ‘open’ conformation that
stimulates its oligomerization and promotes its ability to shape the morphology of lipid membranes
[6], [7]. It is thus likely that mitofusins undergo similar conformational rearrangements. Our group
have recently demonstrated the importance of the N terminal residues 60 to 100, which are neither
conserved in BDLP nor MFNs, in yeast mitofusin function [8]. Hence, structural analysis of the
fragments containing these residues is pivotal to understand the role of Fzo1.
Herein, we will report our effort to successfully purify and crystallize a truncated form of
Fzo1 in which, the extreme C-terminal α-helix of Fzo1 is connected to the N-terminal half through
a linker. This will provide fundamental insights into how Fzo1 mediates yeast mitochondrial fusion
and it will allow us to further investigate the role of the residues 60 to 100.
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