Rapid adjustment of mitochondrial function during metabolic switches as revealed by a novel mitochondrially encoded reporter

• Cells need to react to changing environments by adjusting metabolic pathways and gene expression to prepare cellular functions to the new needs. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a facultative anaerobe that preferentially uses glucose as energy source. During fermentation of this sugar, other metabolic pathways and their genes’ expression are repressed. When glucose is exhausted, the cells activate oxidative phosphorylation to exploit the accumulated ethanol and acetic acid, products of the anaerobic glycolysis in yeast. How these metabolic switches affect mitochondrial function is poorly characterized. Here, we used a mitochondrial encoded nanoluciferase (mtnLuc) to follow adaptation of mitochondrial function during metabolic switches. We find that these switches activate or inhibit mtnLuc activity quickly in a reversible way. The main signaling axis employs components of glucose sensing and impinge on mitochondrial function by modulation of mitochondrial respiration and, consequently, the membrane potential. This study thereby reveals a rapid adjustment of mitochondrial functions during metabolic adaptations, pointing to a yet poorly understood aspect of cytosol-to-mitochondria communication.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)