1,721,018 research outputs found
SERCA2 phosphorylation at the heart of the disease
No full text: Gonnot et al. [1] thoroughly investigated the regulatory role of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) in modulating cardiac isoform 2 of sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA2) activity. They have found that in ischemic hearts of patients and mouse-GSK3β -mediated SERCA2 phosphorylation at serine 663 dampens the SERCA2 pump activity and induces Ca2+ overload which sensitizes towards myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. The inhibition of serine 663 phosphorylation significantly increases SERCA2 activity and, by preventing cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ overload, reduces cell death during reperfusion. Augmented SERCA2 activity also substantially improves excitation-contraction coupling in cardiomyocytes upon recovery from reperfusion injury. This study provides valuable insights into pathophysiological relevance of GSK3β -mediated SERCA2 phosphorylation in the context of heart diseases and paves the way for designing novel clinical therapeutic approaches to alleviate post infartion heart failure
Ca2+ Fluxes across Membrane Contact Sites
No full text: The calcium ion (Ca2+) is a pivotal second messenger orchestrating diverse cellular functions, including metabolism, signaling, and apoptosis. Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are critical hubs for Ca2+ exchange, enabling rapid and localized signaling across cell compartments. Well-characterized interfaces, such as those between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria and ER-plasma membrane (PM), mediate Ca2+ flux through specialized channels. Less understood, yet significant, contacts involving Golgi, lysosomes, peroxisomes, and the nucleus further expand the landscape of intracellular Ca2+ signaling. These organelles are engaged in Ca2+ homeostasis mainly through their MCS, but the molecular players and the mechanisms regulating the process of Ca2+ transfer remain incompletely elucidated. This review provides a comprehensive overview of Ca2+ signaling across diverse MCS, emphasizing understudied organelles and the need for further investigation to uncover novel therapeutic opportunities
Mitochondria Dysfunction and Neuroinflammation in Neurodegeneration: Who Comes First?
Full text link: Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) encompass an assorted array of disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, each characterised by distinct clinical manifestations and underlying pathological mechanisms. While some cases have a genetic basis, many NDs occur sporadically. Despite their differences, these diseases commonly feature chronic neuroinflammation as a hallmark. Consensus has recently been reached on the possibility that mitochondria dysfunction and protein aggregation can mutually contribute to the activation of neuroinflammatory response and thus to the onset and progression of these disorders. In the present review, we discuss the contribution of mitochondria dysfunction and neuroinflammation to the aetiology and progression of NDs, highlighting the possibility that new potential therapeutic targets can be identified to tackle neurodegenerative processes and alleviate the progression of these pathologies
Calcium signaling in Parkinson's disease.
No full textCalcium (Ca2+) is an almost universal second messenger that regulates important activities of all eukaryotic cells. It is of critical importance to neurons, which have developed extensive and intricate pathways to couple the Ca2+ signal to their biochemical machinery. In particular, Ca2+ participates in the transmission of the depolarizing signal and contributes to synaptic activity. During aging and in neurodegenerative disease processes, the ability of neurons to maintain an adequate energy level can be compromised, thus impacting on Ca2+ homeostasis. In Parkinson's disease (PD), many signs of neurodegeneration result from compromised mitochondrial function attributable to specific effects of toxins on the mitochondrial respiratory chain and/or to genetic mutations. Despite these effects being present in almost all cell types, a distinguishing feature of PD is the extreme selectivity of cell loss, which is restricted to the dopaminergic neurons in the ventral portion of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain such selectivity, but only recently it has been convincingly shown that the innate autonomous activity of these neurons, which is sustained by their specific Cav1.3 L-type channel pore-forming subunit, is responsible for the generation of basal metabolic stress that, under physiological conditions, is compensated by mitochondrial buffering. However, when mitochondria function becomes even partially compromised (because of aging, exposure to environmental factors or genetic mutations), the metabolic stress overwhelms the protective mechanisms, and the process of neurodegeneration is engaged. The characteristics of Ca2+ handling in neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta and the possible involvement of PD-related proteins in the control of Ca2+ homeostasis will be discussed in this review
Emerging (and converging) pathways in Parkinson's disease: keeping mitochondrial wellness
No full textThe selective cell loss in the ventral component of the substantia nigra pars compacta and the presence of alpha-synuclein (α-syn)-rich intraneuronal inclusions called Lewy bodies are the pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD), the most common motor system disorder whose aetiology remains largely elusive. Although most cases of PD are idiopathic, there are rare familial forms of the disease that can be traced to single gene mutations that follow Mendelian inheritance pattern. The study of several nuclear encoded proteins whose mutations are linked to the development of autosomal recessive and dominant forms of familial PD enhanced our understanding of biochemical and cellular mechanisms contributing to the disease and suggested that many signs of neurodegeneration result from compromised mitochondrial function. Here we present an overview of the current understanding of PD-related mitochondrial dysfunction including defects in bioenergetics and Ca(2+) homeostasis, mitochondrial DNA mutations, altered mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy. We emphasize, in particular, the convergence of many "apparently" different pathways towards a common route involving mitochondria. Understanding whether mitochondrial dysfunction in PD represents the cause or the consequence of the disease is challenging and will help to define the pathogenic processes at the basis of the PD onset and progression
Etiology and pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease: role of mitochondrial pathology
Full text linkNeurons critically rely on mitochondrial activity: they are characterized by high energy demand and they are totally dependent on the process of oxidative phosphorylation to produce adenosine triphosphate. Thus, any impairment in mitochondrial function results in neuronal damage and degeneration. Some particular neuronal populations are more susceptible
to mitochondrial damage, as it has been recently proposed for the ventral midbrain dopaminergic neurons, the degeneration of which represents a clinical sign of Parkinson’s disease. Different cellular pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disease, but intriguingly both sporadic and familial forms share common features that essentially recapitulate mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondrial biogenesis, bioenergetics, mitochondria dynamics, and quality-control process are the main affected pathways. General consensus agrees on the possibility that deficiency in these processes may represent the cause rather than the consequence of neurodegeneration. In this review, we will discuss these aspects and the substantial achievements that have been reached in recent years in identifying specific defects in precise biological processes, eg, mitochondrial quality control. The development of cell and animal genetic models has been an important tool to dissect numerous molecular details; for this reason, we will mainly refer to experiments performed on them
Chapter 4 The endoplasmic reticulum crossroads for newly synthesized polypeptide chains.
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The plasma membrane calcium pumps: focus on the role in (neuro)pathology
No full textThe plasma membrane Ca(2+) ATPase (PMCA pump) is a member of the superfamily of P-type pumps. It is organized in the plasma membrane with ten transmembrane helices and two main cytosolic loops, one of which contains the catalytic center. It also contains a long C-terminal tail that houses the binding site for calmodulin, the main regulator of the activity of the pump. The pump also contains a number of other regulators, among them acidic phospholipids, kinases, and numerous protein interactors. Separate genes code for 4 basic pump isoforms in mammals, additional isoform complexity being generated by the alternative splicing of primary transcripts. Pumps 1 and 4 are expressed ubiquitously, pumps 2 and 3 are tissue restricted, with preference for the nervous system. In essentially all cells, the pump coexists with much more powerful systems that clear Ca(2+) from the cytosol, e.g. the SERCA pump and the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger. Its role in the global regulation of cellular Ca(2+) homeostasis is thus quantitatively marginal: its main function is the regulation of Ca(2+) signaling in selected sub-plasma membrane microdomains where Ca(2+) modulated interactors also reside. Malfunctions of the pump linked to genetic mutations are now described with increasing frequency, the disease phenotypes being especially severe in the nervous system where isoforms 2 and 3 predominate. The analysis of the pump defects suggests that the disease phenotypes are likely to be related to the imperfect modulation of Ca(2+) signaling in selected sub-plasma membrane microdomains, leading to the defective control of the activity of important Ca(2+) dependent interactors
Calcium and Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondria Tethering in Neurodegeneration.
No full textMitochondria are key players of many physiological processes and deregulation of mitochondrial and/or mitochondria-related activity is unequivocally associated to numerous ageing-linked neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Recently, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress condition is emerging as a common feature relevant to the pathogenesis of this type of diseases. Mitochondria and ER are two compartments physically and functionally tightly interconnected and recent evidence revealed that the impairment in their communication might represent a common hit in different neurodegenerative diseases. ER-mitochondria contact sites are crucial for Ca2+ signaling since, upon the opening of ER Ca2+ release channels, microdomains of high [Ca2+] are generated in their proximity and Ca2+ can be taken up by the low-affinity mitochondrial uniporter. This transfer is essential in stimulated as well as in resting conditions to sustain cell metabolism and bioenergetics. Alterations in the ER-mitochondria juxtaposition are critical not only because they determine mitochondrial dysfunctions, but also because they compromise lipid metabolism, protein synthesis, and folding, thus demonstrating that the interaction between the two compartments is bi-functional. However, the functional consequences of these alterations on Ca2+ signaling and the possible involvement in the development of neurodegenerative conditions are currently largely unexplored. Here we will survey the recent literature in the field and discuss recent insights focusing on some cellular models expressing mutant proteins involved in the pathogenesis of familial forms of PD, AD, and ALS
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