Gas7 regulates mitochondrial morphology and physiology

Abstract

Gas7 belongs to the F‐BAR family of proteins and has been shown to be involved in actin and microtubule dynamics. Gas7 is mainly expressed in mouse brain and testicular tissues. In primary cultured neurons, Gas7 enhances actin polymerization and neurite outgrowth. Mutations in PARKIN and PINK1 genes, which play major roles in mitochondrial quality control and mitochondrial autophagy, are often associated with Parkinson's disease. Here, we report a role of Gas7 in mitochondrial distribution, physiological functions, and enhancement of PINK1‐parkin‐mediated mitochondrial autophagy. In the brain of gas7 knockout mice, the mitochondrial aspect ratio is elevated, suggesting a decrease in the level of mitochondrial fragmentation, resulting in an elongated shape. Furthermore, in primary neuronal cultured cells, we found that mitochondrial distribution was restricted around the nucleus, tubular mitochondrial subtypes increased, indicating decreased mitochondrial division, and increased mitochondrial fusion in Gas7 knockout neurons. Gas7 ectopic‐expression in these primary cultured neurons can restore normal morphology and distribution of mitochondria. Overall, our data suggest that Gas7 is required for normal mitochondrial dynamics and therefore may be important for cerebral neurons to maintain mitochondrial function.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by an intramural fund from the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica and a theme project of Academia Sinica (2323)This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.