Mechanisms of Mitochondrial Iron Uptake: New Therapeutic Targets in Hepatotoxicity

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Iron is a transition metal that exists in two pools within cells. Chelatable iron comprises free iron and iron loosely bound to anionic metabolites like ATP and citrate, whereas non-chelatable iron is tightly bound to ferritin, heme and iron-sulfur clusters. Redox active chelatable iron promotes oxidative stress by catalyzing the Fenton reaction, which produces highly reactive hydroxyl radicals that damage DNA, proteins and membranes. Much evidence implicates mitochondrial iron as an important contributor to toxicity, but the molecular pathways of mitochondrial iron uptake are incompletely understood. Current dogma is that mitoferrin (Mfrn1 and 2), a mitochondrial inner membrane protein, is responsible for mitochondrial iron transport. However, studies from 45 years ago show that the classical electrogenic mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex also catalyzes uptake of Fe2+ but not Fe3+ driven by the mitochondrial membrane potential, a conclusion supported by our own studies in intact and permeabilized cells. Our preliminary pull-down, Duolink and super-resolution microscopy studies show a physical association of Mfrn2, the predominant isoform in non-erythroid cells, with MCU, the core protein of the MCU complex. This brings us to the fundamental questions to be addressed by this proposal: 1) Do mitochondria accumulate iron via two independent pathways: a non-electrogenic pathway mediated by Mfrn and an electrogenic pathway catalyzed by MCU? 2) Alternatively do Mfrn and the molecular components of MCU exist within a single complex mediating both Fe2+ and Ca2+ uptake? 3) Is Mfrn an exchanger, such as an Fe2+/Na+(H+) exchanger in analogy to Ca2+/Na+, Mg2+/Na+, and Na+/H+ exchangers? 4) How do MCU and Mfrn, as well as divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), contribute to hepatotoxicity? In Aim 1, we will characterize mitochondrial Fe2+ uptake and exchange in plasma membrane-permeabilized wildtype (WT), MCU knockout (KO) and Mfrn1/2 double KO (DKO) hepatocytes. Aim 2 will identify interactions of Mfrn2 with other proteins using an unbiased enrichment-mass spectrometric (AE-MS) approach, DuoLink and super-resolution microscopy to establish whether or not Mfrn2 and MCU are authentic binding partners and also to identify associations of Mfrn2 with other novel partners. Aim 3 will assess how targeted mutations affect susceptibility to acetaminophen (APAP) toxicity, which is mediated by iron. Specifically, we will determine how deficiencies of MCU, Mfrn2 and DMT1 affect APAP-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and hepatocellular killing in vitro and in vivo. We expect these studies to define the specific roles of MCU, Mfrn2 and DMT1 in this clinically relevant model of hepatocellular injury. The concept that Mfrn and MCU are both essential for both mitochondrial Fe2+ uptake and homeo-stasis is novel, innovative and paradigm-shifting. The project will provide insights into an unexplored area of biology and fill an important gap in our understanding of the pathways involved in mitochondrial iron uptake and iron-dependent toxicities. Better understanding of the process will eventually lead to more specific interventions against hepatic diseases promoted by iron overload.