Saturday, March 17, 2018

Distinct effects of frataxin missence point mutations on mitochondrial localization, protein processing, and cellular metabolism

Clark, Elisia M., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
National Institute of Health (NIH), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type: Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award.

Although the function of frataxin (FXN) remains unclear, it is a mitochondrial protein imperative for proper mitochondria function. Friedreich's ataxia patients who carry missense point mutations in FXN display phenotypic variability that is mutation selective for unclear reasons. These studies will examine the mechanism by which FRDA-associated missense mutations impair FXN processing and explore the influence they have on cellular metabolism, in addition to exploring the use of fatty acids as a potential therapeutic strategy.

Interactions of iron-bound frataxin with ISCU and ferredoxin on the cysteine desulfurase complex leading to Fe-S cluster assembly

ai Cai, Ronnie O. Frederick, Marco Tonelli, John L. Markley, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Available online 15 March 2018, ISSN 0162-0134, doi:10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2018.03.007.

Frataxin (FXN) is involved in mitochondrial iron‑sulfur (Fe-S) cluster biogenesis and serves to accelerate Fe-S cluster formation. FXN deficiency is associated with Friedreich ataxia, a neurodegenerative disease. We have used a combination of isothermal titration calorimetry and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy to investigate interactions among the components of the biological machine that carries out the assembly of iron‑sulfur clusters in human mitochondria. Our results show that FXN tightly binds a single Fe2+ but not Fe3+. While FXN (with or without bound Fe2+) does not bind the scaffold protein ISCU directly, the two proteins interact mutually when each is bound to the cysteine desulfurase complex ([NFS1]2:[ISD11]2:[Acp]2), abbreviated as (NIA)2, where “N” represents the cysteine desulfurase (NFS1), “I” represents the accessory protein (ISD11), and “A” represents acyl carrier protein (Acp). FXN binds (NIA)2 weakly in the absence of ISCU but more strongly in its presence. Fe2+-FXN binds to the (NIA)2-ISCU2 complex without release of iron. However, upon the addition of both l-cysteine and a reductant (either reduced FDX2 or DTT), Fe2+ is released from FXN as consistent with Fe2+-FXN being the proximal source of iron for Fe-S cluster assembly.