Role of Mitofusin-2 in mitochondrial localization and calcium uptake in skeletal muscle.

ABSTRACT: As muscle contraction requires ATP and Ca(2+), skeletal muscle function is highly dependent on communication between two major intracellular organelles: mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). In adult skeletal muscle, mitochondria located within the I-band of the sarcomere are connected to the SR by small ∼10 nm electron dense tethers that bridge the outer mitochondrial membrane to the region of SR that is ∼130 nm from the site of Ca(2+) release. However, the molecular composition of tethers and their precise impact on mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake in skeletal muscle is unclear. Mitofusin-2 (Mfn2) is a transmembrane GTPase present in both mitochondria and ER/SR membranes that forms trans-dimers and participates in mitochondrial fusion. Here we evaluated the role Mfn2 plays in mitochon

SUBMITTER: Ainbinder A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4300280 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature