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Resources » Paper

Zappaterra MD et al. (2000) West Coast Worm Meeting "Loss of a dynamin related protein MGM-1 causes excessive mitochondrial fragmentation"

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  • Comments on Zappaterra MD et al. (2000) West Coast Worm Meeting "Loss of a dynamin related protein MGM-1 causes excessive mitochondrial fragmentation" (0)

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    Publication type:
    Meeting_abstract
    WormBase ID:
    WBPaper00017049

    Zappaterra MD, & van der Bliek A (2000). Loss of a dynamin related protein MGM-1 causes excessive mitochondrial fragmentation presented in West Coast Worm Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.

    Our lab studies the functions of dynamin and dynamin related proteins. These proteins form a small family of large GTP-binding proteins. We have recently shown that the C. elegans dynamin related protein DRP-1, is involved in the scission of the mitochondrial outer membrane (1). Since little is known about mitochondrial division and mitochondrial morphology in animal cells, we are investigating the mechanisms that regulate these processes. MGM-1 is another member of the dynamin family present in animal cells. As of now we know that this protein is present in yeast, C. elegans, and humans. Unlike other members of the dynamin family, MGM-1 has an N-terminal mitochondrial leader sequence. MGM-1 is also more closely related to bacterial dynamin-like proteins than it is to dynamin or DRP-1, suggesting that this protein has followed a different evolutionary path. We speculate that MGM-1 was introduced into eukaryotic cells by the progenitors of mitochondria. Expression studies using -galactosidase under the control of the mgm-1 promoter show high levels of expression in intestines, body wall muscles, and neurons. These high levels might reflect high metabolic rates in those tissues, because the MGM-1 expression pattern is similar to that of another dynamin-related protein, DRP-1, which is also important for mitochondrial maintenance. Mgm-1 RNAi drastically slows the growth rate and approximately doubles the life span of C. elegans. We show that excessive fragmentation of mitochondria is induced by RNAi and mgm-1 antisense cDNA. We present evidence that MGM-1 is localized to the mitochondrial matrix where it might regulate the morphology of the mitochondrial inner membrane. 1. Labrousse, A.M., Zappaterra, M.D., Rube, D.A., and van der Bliek, A.M. Molecular Cell 4: 815-826. 1999.


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