Taeko Sasaki1,2, Yasuharu Kushida2, Takuya Norizuki1, Hidetaka Kosako3, Ken Sato2*, Miyuki Sato1* (1.Laboratory of Molecular Membrane Biology, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University; 2.Laboratory of Molecular Traffic, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University; 3. Division of Cell Signaling, Fujii Memorial Institute of Medical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University)
About
Mitochondria are important organelles that supply energy to cells and have their own mitochondrial DNA. Interestingly, mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother (maternal inheritance) in many organisms. Using nematode C. elegans as a model system, we have found that selective degradation of paternal mitochondria derived from sperm through autophagy is necessary for maternal inheritance and that ALLO-1 and IKKE-1 are key players in this process.
In this study, our live imaging analysis reveals that ALLO-1 rapidly localizes to the paternal mitochondria after fertilization (within 30 sec). We also suggest the mechanism how ALLO-1 and IKKE-1 initiate local autophagosome formation on cargos. Our results also suggest that this mechanism is similar to that of autophagyy of dysfunctional mitochondria (mitophagy) in human cells.
Paper information
Sasaki T, Kushida Y, Norizuki T, Kosako H, Sato K, Sato M. ALLO-1- and IKKE-1-dependent positive feedback mechanism promotes the initiation of paternal mitochondrial autophagy. Nature Communications 2024 Feb; 15:1460.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45863-2
Online URL
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45863-2
