Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Park, Jeehye
• Lee, Gina
• Chung, Jongkyeong

Titel

The PINK1–Parkin pathway is involved in the regulation of mitochondrial remodeling process

Ist Teil von

• Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 2009-01, Vol.378 (3), p.518-523

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2009

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The two Parkinson’s disease (PD) genes, PTEN-induced kinase 1 ( PINK1) and parkin, are linked in a common pathway which affects mitochondrial integrity and function. However, it is still not known what this pathway does in the mitochondria. Therefore, we investigated its physiological function in Drosophila. Because Drosophila PINK1 and parkin mutants show changes in mitochondrial morphology in both indirect flight muscles and dopaminergic neurons, we here investigated whether the PINK1–Parkin pathway genetically interacts with the regulators of mitochondrial fusion and fission such as Drp1, which promotes mitochondrial fission, and Opa1 or Marf, which induces mitochondrial fusion. Surprisingly, Drosophila PINK1 and parkin mutant phenotypes were markedly suppressed by overexpression of Drp1 or downregulation of Opa1 or Marf, indicating that the PINK1–Parkin pathway regulates mitochondrial remodeling process in the direction of promoting mitochondrial fission. Therefore, we strongly suggest that mitochondrial fusion and fission process could be a prominent therapeutic target for the treatment of PD.