1 Abstract in English Mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) targeting shows a great promise in cancer therapy. However, why modern ETC-targeted compounds are tolerated on the organismal level and what are the molecular reasons for this tolerance remains unclear. Most somatic cells are in a non-proliferative state, and features associated with the ETC in quiescence might therefore contribute to specificity. Thus, we investigated the ETC status and the role of two major consequences of ETC blockade, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and inhibition of ATP production, in cell death induction in breast cancer cells and in proliferating and quiescent non-transformed cells. First, we characterised the effect of a newly developed ETC inhibitor mitochondria- targeted tamoxifen (MitoTam) in in vitro and in vivo tumour models of breast cancer with varying status of the Her2 oncogene. We document that Her2high cells and tumours have increased assembly of respiratory supercomplexes (SCs) and increased complex I-driven respiration in vitro and in vivo. They are also highly sensitive to MitoTam. Unlike the parental compound tamoxifen, MitoTam efficiently suppressed experimental Her2high tumours without systemic toxicity. Mechanistically, MitoTam inhibits complex I- driven respiration and disrupts respiratory...

Mgr. Daniela Fornuskova PhD thesis Biochemical and molecular studies of cytochrome c oxidase and ATP synthase deficiencies ABSTRACT The mammalian organism fully depends on the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) as the major energy (ATP) producer of the cell. Disturbances of OXPHOS may be caused by mutations in either mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or nuclear DNA (nDNA). One part of the thesis is focused on the role of early and late assembled nuclear-encoded structural subunits of cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) as well as Oxa1l, the human homologue of the yeast mitochondrial Oxa1 translocase, in the biogenesis and function of the human CcO complex using stable RNA interference of COX4, COX5A, COX6A1 and OXA1L, as well as expression of epitope-tagged Cox6a, Cox7a and Cox7b, in HEK (human embryonic kidney)- 293 cells. Our results indicate that, whereas nuclear- encoded CcO subunits Cox4 and Cox5a are required for the assembly of the functional CcO complex, the Cox6a subunit is required for the overall stability of the holoenzyme. In OXA1L knockdown HEK-293 cells, intriguingly, CcO activity and holoenzyme content were unaffected, although the inactivation of OXA1 in yeast was shown to cause complete absence of CcO activity. In addition, we compared OXPHOS protein deficiency patterns in mitochondria from skeletal...

The complexes of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system in the inner mitochondrial membrane are organised into structural and functional super-assemblies, so-called supercomplexes. This type of organisation enables substrate channelling and hence improves the overall OXPHOS efficiency. ATP synthase associates into dimers and higher oligomers. Within the supercomplex of ATP synthasome, it interacts with ADP/ATP translocase (ANT), which exchanges synthesised ATP for cytosolic ADP, and inorganic phosphate carrier (PiC), which imports phosphate into the mitochondrial matrix. The existence of this supercomplex is generally accepted. Experimental evidence is however still lacking. In this thesis, structural interactions between ATP synthase, ANT and PiC were studied in detail. In addition, the interdependence of their expression was examined either under physiological conditions in rat tissues or using model cell lines with ATP synthase deficiencies of different origin. Specifically, they included mutations in the nuclear genes ATP5E and TMEM70 that code for subunit ε and the ancillary factor of ATP synthase biogenesis TMEM70, respectively, and a microdeletion at the interface of genes MT-ATP6 and MT-COX3 that impairs the mitochondrial translation of both subunit a of ATP synthase and subunit Cox3...

Mitochondria are the key source of vital ATP molecules, which are largely produced within cells by a system of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Genetic defects affecting any of the components of the oxidative phosphorylation system or the structure and function of mitochondria lead to mitochondrial disorders, which occur at an incidence rate of 1 in 5000 live births. Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is the terminal enzyme and electron acceptor of a respiratory chain that catalyses oxygen to produce a water molecule. In addition to complex I deficiency, isolated or combined COX deficiency is the most common respiratory chain defect in paediatric patients, and it can arise from mutations located either in mitochondrial DNA or in nuclear genes encoding the structural subunits or corresponding assembly factors of the enzyme complex. However, the molecular basis of COX deficiency remains elusive in many patients despite advances in the identification of an increasing number of mutations and genes involved in the disease. This thesis focuses on the identification of the genetic causes of mitochondrial diseases in a cohort of 60 unrelated Czech children with clinically and laboratory confirmed COX-deficiency. With the use of a high-resolution melting analysis mutation screen, four heterozygous sequence...

Mood disorders are serious diseases. Nevertheless, their pathophysiology is not sufficiently clarified. Biological markers that would facilitate the diagnosis or successful prediction of pharmacotherapy are still being sought. The aim of the study was to find out whether mitochondrial functions are affected by antidepressants, mood stabilizers and depression. Our research is based on recent hypotheses of mood disorders, the advanced monoamine hypothesis, the neurotrophic hypothesis, and the mitochondrial dysfunction hypothesis. We assume that impaired function of mitochondria leads to neuronal damage and can be related to the origin of mood disorders. Effects of antidepressants and mood stabilizers on mitochondrial functions can be related to their therapeutic or side effects. In vitro effects of pharmacologically different antidepressants and mood stabilizers on the activities of mitochondrial enzymes were measured in mitochondria isolated from pig brains (in vitro model). Activity of monoamine oxidase (MAO) isoforms was determined radiochemically, activities of other mitochondrial enzymes were measured spectrophotometrically. Overall activity of the system of oxidative phosphorylation was measured electrochemically using high- resolution respirometry. Methods were modified to measure the same...

ATP synthase represents the key enzyme of cellular energy provision and ATP synthase disorders belong to the most deleterious mitochondrial diseases affecting pediatric population. The aim of this thesis was to identify nuclear genetic defects and describe the pathogenic mechanism of altered biosynthesis of ATP synthase that leads to isolated deficiency of this enzyme manifesting as an early onset mitochondrial encephalo-cardiomyopathy. Studies in the group of 25 patients enabled identification of two new disease-causing nuclear genes responsible for ATP synthase deficiency. The first affected gene was TMEM70 that encodes an unknown mitochondrial protein. This protein was identified as a novel assembly factor of ATP synthase, first one specific for higher eukaryotes. TMEM70 protein of 21 kDa is located in mitochondrial inner membrane and it is absent in patient tissues. TMEM70 mutation was found in 23 patients and turned to be the most frequent cause of ATP synthase deficiency. Cell culture studies also revealed that enzyme defect leads to compensatory-adaptive upregulation of respiratory chain complexes III and IV due to posttranscriptional events. The second affected gene was ATP5E that encodes small structural epsilon subunit of ATP synthase. Replacement of conserved Tyr12 with Cys caused...

The complexes of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system in the inner mitochondrial membrane are organised into structural and functional super-assemblies, so-called supercomplexes. This type of organisation enables substrate channelling and hence improves the overall OXPHOS efficiency. ATP synthase associates into dimers and higher oligomers. Within the supercomplex of ATP synthasome, it interacts with ADP/ATP translocase (ANT), which exchanges synthesised ATP for cytosolic ADP, and inorganic phosphate carrier (PiC), which imports phosphate into the mitochondrial matrix. The existence of this supercomplex is generally accepted. Experimental evidence is however still lacking. In this thesis, structural interactions between ATP synthase, ANT and PiC were studied in detail. In addition, the interdependence of their expression was examined either under physiological conditions in rat tissues or using model cell lines with ATP synthase deficiencies of different origin. Specifically, they included mutations in the nuclear genes ATP5E and TMEM70 that code for subunit ε and the ancillary factor of ATP synthase biogenesis TMEM70, respectively, and a microdeletion at the interface of genes MT-ATP6 and MT-COX3 that impairs the mitochondrial translation of both subunit a of ATP synthase and subunit Cox3...

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Le but de cette thèse est d’étudier les modifications biochimiques mitochondriales liées à un défaut de lipoylation des protéines dans les fibroblastes de 14 patients. Ces patients sont porteurs d’une mutation dans un gène codant une des protéines impliquées soit dans la synthèse de l’acide lipoïque (LIPT1, LIPT2) soit dans la voie de biogenèse des centres Fe-S mitochondriale (FDX1L, ISCA1, ISCA2, IBA57, NFU1, BOLA3). La voie de biogenèse des centres Fe-S est nécessaire à la maturation des protéines Fe-S mitochondriales, dont la lipoic acid synthase (LIAS).Ces travaux ont permis d’étudier notamment un deuxième cas de déficit en FDX1L ainsi qu’un patient porteur d’une nouvelle mutation dans ISCA1. Les déficits dans la voie de la biogenèse des centres Fe-S observés chez les patients étudiés affectent principalement la maturation des protéines mitochondriales à centre [4Fe-4S] dont l’aconitase mitochondriale, les complexes I et II de la chaîne respiratoire et la LIAS, induisant ainsi un défaut de lipoylation d’enzymes clés du métabolisme énergétique (PDHc, KGDHc). Aucune atteinte du réseau mitochondrial ni de variations du stress oxydatif n’ont pu être mises en évidence. Finalement, l’ajout d’acide lipoïque exogène n’améliore pas les déficits observés.Les profils d’expression des protéines dans les fibroblastes des patients suggèrent que les protéines NFU1, BOLA3 et IBA57 ainsi que ISCA1, ISCA2 et IBA57 coopèrent entre elles de manière complexe. / The aim of this work is to study mitochondrial dysfunctions related to a defect of protein lipoylation in fibroblasts of 14 patients. These patients carry a point mutation in a gene encoding for a protein involved either in lipoic acid biosynthesis (LIPT1 or LIPT2) or in the mitochondrial pathway devoted to iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis (FDX1L, ISCA1, ISCA2, IBA57, NFU1, BOLA3) essential for maturation of mitochondrial Fe-S proteins such as lipoic acid synthase (LIAS). This work describes the second case of FDX1L deficiency and a patient with a new mutation in ISCA1 gene.We found that mitochondrial [4Fe-4S] proteins (mitochondrial aconitase, complexes I and II of the respiratory chain and LIAS) are mainly affected in fibroblasts of patients with defect in the mitochondrial Fe-S maturation pathway. Secondary, LIAS dysfunction leads to decreased lipoylation of PDHc and KGDHc, complexes involved in energy metabolism. Neither mitochondrial network nor oxidative stress biomarkers was modified in our study. Addition of exogenous lipoic acid did not rescue the mitochondrial deficiency.Protein expression profiles obtained in fibroblasts of patients suggest that NFU1, BOLA3 and IBA57 and also ISCA1, ISCA2 and IBA57 could function and interact together to form protein complexes.

Dans la majorité des cas, les mitochondries sont nécessaires à la tumorigenèse et à la réponse des cellules cancéreuses aux signaux générés par les facteurs micro-environnementaux (exemples : privation de nutriments, hypoxie) ou par les traitements anticancéreux (exemples : chimiothérapie, radiothérapie). Presque toutes les protéines mitochondriales sont codées par le génome nucléaire et importées dans l'organelle. Des machineries d'import ont donc évolué afin de répondre aux besoins d'import protéique. Dans ce contexte, la machinerie régulée par CHCHD4/Mia40 fonctionne dans l’espace intermembranaire et contrôle l’import d’un groupe de protéines (substrats) qui joue des rôles importants dans la survie et la réponse au stress. Les substrats de CHCHD4/Mia40 sont impliqués dans un vaste panel d’activités mitochondriales qui inclut la biogenèse des complexes de la chaîne respiratoire, l’homéostasie lipidique, le stockage du calcium, ainsi que l'ultrastructure et la dynamique mitochondriale. Ce programme de thèse a été dédié à l’étude de la voie d’import CHCHD4/Mia40 dans les cellules cancéreuses et a porté un intérêt tout particulier à l'un des substrats CHCHD4/Mia40 qui façonne l'ultrastructure mitochondriale. En utilisant des techniques d’ARN interférence et de sur-expression de protéines recombinantes, dans un modèle de cancer du côlon, nous avons montré que l’expression du substrat étudié a un effet crucial sur la prolifération et la croissance tumorale. Nos données ont également impliqué cette protéine dans la réponse aux traitements anticancéreux. Dans l'ensemble, ces travaux ouvrent un nouveau champ d'investigations qui non seulement permettra de mieux comprendre la plasticité métabolique des cellules cancéreuses, mais aidera également à identifier de nouveaux biomarqueurs métaboliques. / In the vast majority of cases, mitochondria are required for tumorigenesis and also for the tumoral response to signals generated by the microenvironmental factors (e.g. nutrient deprivation, hypoxia) or to the effects of anti-cancer treatments (e.g. chemotherapy, radiotherapy). As almost all mitochondrial proteins are nuclear-encoded and imported into the organelle, specialized import machineries have evolved in order to meet the need for protein import. Among these machineries, the one that operates in the intermembrane space and is controlled by CHCHD4/Mia40, regulates the import of a group of proteins (substrates) that play important roles in survival and stress response. Substrates of CHCHD4/Mia40 are involved in a broad panel of mitochondrial activities that includes the biogenesis of respiratory chain complexes, lipid homeostasis, calcium storage, as well as ultrastructure and mitochondrial dynamics. This thesis program was dedicated to the study of the CHCHD4/Mia40 import pathway in cancer cells, with a particular interest for one of the CHCHD4/Mia40 substrates that shapes mitochondrial ultrastructure. Using RNA interference approach and recombinant protein overexpression technique, in a colon cancer model, we showed that the expression of this substrate had a crucial effect on proliferation and tumor growth. Our data also involved this protein in the response to anti-cancer treatments. All together, this work opens a new field of investigations that will not only shed new lights on the metabolic plasticity of cancer cells but also help to identify new metabolic biomarkers.