Key result
Disrupting conserved cardiolipin interactions with the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier destabilizes its structure and impairs transport activity, underlying the pathogenesis of the human ANT1 L141F mutation.
Why the study?
The role of three evolutionarily conserved buried cardiolipins in the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier remained to be determined.
Does disruption of cardiolipin-binding sites in the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier impair its structural stability and transport function in yeast and human cell models?
Does disruption of cardiolipin-binding sites in the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier impair its structural stability and transport function in yeast and human cell models?
The study demonstrates that cardiolipin binding is essential for the structural stability and transport function of the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier, providing a mechanistic basis for a pathogenic ANT1 mutation linked to cardiomyopathy.
Cardiolipin-ANT1 interactions warrant further study in cardiomyopathy models; leaves open any clinical translation.
The mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin (CL) promotes bioenergetics via oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Three tightly bound CLs are evolutionarily conserved in the ADP/ATP carrier (AAC in yeast; adenine nucleotide translocator, ANT in mammals) which resides in the inner mitochondrial membrane and exchanges ADP and ATP to enable OXPHOS. Here, we investigated the role of these buried CLs in the carrier using yeast Aac2 as a model. We introduced negatively charged mutations into each CL-binding site of Aac2 to disrupt the CL interactions via electrostatic repulsion. While all mutations disturbing the CL-protein interaction destabilized Aac2 monomeric structure, transport activity was impaired in a pocket-specific manner. Finally, we determined that a disease-associated missense mutation in one CL-binding site in ANT1 compromised its structure and transport activity, resulting in OXPHOS defects. Our findings highlight the conserved significance of CL in AAC/ANT structure and function, directly tied to specific lipid-protein interactions.
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Senoo et al. (2023) studied Mitochondrial myopathy and cardiomyopathy (context of ANT1 L141F mutation). Mutagenesis of cardiolipin-binding pockets (e.g., L141F in ANT1) vs. Wild-type Aac2/ANT1 was evaluated on Carrier structural stability and ADP/ATP transport activity. Disrupting conserved cardiolipin interactions with the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier destabilizes its structure and impairs transport activity, underlying the pathogenesis of the human ANT1 L141F mutation.
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