Figure 1. MEC-12/alpha tubulin regulates mitochondrial morphology and mitophagy under basal conditions and oxidative stress: (A) Single-cell RNA sequencing data confirming the pan-neuronal expression pattern of the
mec-12 gene (data retrieved from https://www.cengen.org). (B) The amino acid sequence of MEC-12 with indicated mutations: acetylated lysine residue (red), D69N (
u76), G144S (
e1607), H192Y (
e1605), G354E (
u241), E425K (
u63).(C) Transgenic animals expressing the fluorescent protein GFP fused with MEC-12 under the endogenous
mec-12 promoter. The GFP::MEC-12 protein displays neuronal localization. Scale bar, 100μm. (D) Quantitative analysis of GFP::MEC-12 accumulation in neurons with age (ns P>0.05; ** P<0.001; **** P<0.0001; One-way ANOVA). (E) Representative confocal microscopy images of wild type (wt) and
mec-12(
e1605) mutants co-expressing mitochondria-targeted GFP and cytosolic mCherry in GABAergic motor neurons under control conditions and after exposure to 2mM paraquat. Scale bars, 20μm (F) Measurement of mitochondrial size in wt and
mec-12(
e1605) mutants, under control and paraquat-induced oxidative stress conditions (ns P>0.05; * P<0.01; **** P<0.0001; One-way ANOVA). (G) Effects of paraquat treatment on axonal mitochondrial number in wt and
mec-12(
e1605) mutants (** P<0.001; **** P<0.0001; One-way ANOVA). (H) Increase in GFP::MEC-12 levels upon paraquat treatment, indicating stress-induced up-regulation (head region; Scale bars, 100μm). (I) Quantitative analysis of GFP::MEC-12 protein levels in response to paraquat treatment (* P<0.01; unpaired t-test). (J) Representative fluorescent images of wt and
mec-12(
e1605) transgenic nematodes expressing mtRosella under the pan-neuronal promoter
unc-119 treated with paraquat. Scale bars, 100μm. (K) MEC-12 is required for mitophagy induction (reduced GFP/DsRed ratio) upon paraquat treatment (ns P>0.05; **** P<0.0001; One-way ANOVA). (L) Representative fluorescent images of axonal mtRosella signals were obtained using wt and
mec-12(
e1605) transgenic nematodes, which express mtRosella pan-neuronally. Scale bars, 20μm. (M) The increased mtRosella ratio of
mec-12(
e1605) mutants suggests diminished basal mitophagy in axons (**** P<0.0001; unpaired t-test). (N) Mitophagic flux is reduced in the axons of
mec-12(
e1605) mutant nematodes (** P<0.001; unpaired t-test).