Abstract
Mitophagy is a specialized form of autophagy that selectively disposes of dysfunctional mitochondria. Delineating the molecular regulation of mitophagy is of great importance because defects in this process lead to a variety of mitochondrial diseases. Here we report that mice deficient for the mitochondrial protein, phosphoglycerate mutase family member 5 (PGAM5), displayed a Parkinsons-like movement phenotype. We determined biochemically that PGAM5 is required for the stabilization of the mitophagy-inducing protein PINK1 on damaged mitochondria. Loss of PGAM5 disables PINK1-mediated mitophagy in vitro and leads to dopaminergic neurodegeneration and mild dopamine loss in vivo. Our data indicate that PGAM5 is a regulator of mitophagy essential for mitochondrial turnover and serves a cytoprotective function in dopaminergic neurons in vivo. Moreover, PGAM5 may provide a molecular link to study mitochondrial homeostasis and the pathogenesis of a movement disorder similar to Parkinsons disease.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 4930 |
Journal | Nature communications |
Volume | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2014 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Physics and Astronomy