Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), which is essential for mitochondrial pyruvate usage, mediates the transport of cytosolic pyruvate into mitochondria. Low MPC expression is associated with various cancers, and functionally associated with glycolytic metabolism and stemness. However, the mechanism by which MPC expression is regulated is largely unknown. In this study, we showed that MPC1 is down-regulated in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) due to strong suppression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma co-activator (PGC)-1 alpha (PGC-1α). We also demonstrated that overexpression of PGC-1α stimulates MPC1 transcription, while depletion of PGC-1α by siRNA suppresses MPC expression. We found that PGC-1α interacts with estrogen-related receptor-alpha (ERR-α) and recruits it to the ERR-α response element motif located in the proximal MPC1 promoter, resulting in efficient activation of MPC1 expression. Furthermore, the MPC inhibitor, UK5099, blocked PGC-1α-induced pyruvate-dependent mitochondrial oxygen consumption. Taken together, our results suggest that MPC1 is a novel target gene of PGC-1α. In addition, low expression of PGC-1α in human RCC might contribute to the reduced expression of MPC, resulting in impaired mitochondrial respiratory capacity in RCC by limiting the transport of pyruvate into the mitochondrial matrix.
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A high-resolution crystal structure of the molybdenum insertase Cnx1E from Arabidopsis thaliana reveals two mutually exclusive molybdate binding sites, that have mechanistic implications for the Mo-insertion process into the pterin moiety of the molybdenum cofactor. In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, Kruse et al. found that molybdate is sequentially bound to the entry and the catalytically-productive site, going hand in hand with a distinct backbone conformation shift. In this image, adenylated molybdopterin and the two molybdate ions are shown in front of the Cnx1E active site. (Image provided by J. Krausze, W. A. Sassen and T. Kruse); for details see pages 1739–1753.
MPC1 is essential for PGC-1α-induced mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis
Eunjin Koh, Young Kyung Kim, Daye Shin, Kyung-Sup Kim; MPC1 is essential for PGC-1α-induced mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis. Biochem J 31 May 2018; 475 (10): 1687–1699. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20170967
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