P53/Mieap-regulated mitochondrial quality control plays an important role as a tumor suppressor in gastric and esophageal cancers

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Mitochondria-eating protein (Mieap) plays a critical role in mitochondrial quality control (MQC) and functions as a p53-inducible tumor suppressor. This study aimed to examine its role in gastric cancer (GC) and esophageal cancer (EC). GC cells were infected with Mieap-overexpressing adenovirus (Ad-Mieap) and subjected to fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), western blotting, and caspase assays. Thereafter, we evaluated the potential disruption of the p53/Mieap-regulated MQC pathway in vivo. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) for Mieap, NIX, and BNIP3 promoters was performed and p53 mutations were detected using cryopreserved surgical specimens. Exogenous Mieap in GC cells induced the formation of vacuole-like structures (called MIVs, Mieap-induced vacuoles) and caspase-dependent cell death, with the activation of both caspase-3 and caspase-9. Of the 47 GC patients, promoter methylation in Mieap, BNIP3, and NIX was identified in two (4.3%), 29 (61.7%), and zero (0%) specimens, respectively. In total, 33 GC patients (70.2%) inactivated this MQC pathway. Amazingly, BNIP3 promoter in the normal epithelium was highly methylated in 18 of the 47 GC patients (38.3%). In EC patients, this MQC pathway was also inactivated in ten of 12 patients (83.3%). These results indicate that p53/Mieap-regulated MQC plays an important role in upper gastrointestinal (GI) tumor suppression, possibly, in part, through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.