Reply to Rutter et al.: The roles of cytosolic and intramitochondrial Ca2+ and the mitochondrial Ca2+-uniporter (MCU) in the stimulation of mammalian oxidative phosphorylation [Letters to the Editor]

Each model used in the work referred to by Rutter et al. (1) addressed certain aspects of mitochondrial biology, and together, they fully support the conclusions made. Please note that we describe Ca2+-mediated regulation of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) fluxes (2, 3) and do not question Ca2+-responsiveness of pyruvate dehydrogenase en-zyme activity (4). To address concerns such as those raised by Rutter et al. (1), we studied glutamate/malate-dependent OXPHOS in the absence of exogenous pyruvate in mitochondria, omitted pyruvate from cell experiments, and implemented the working rat heart model perfused by Krebs–Henseleit (glucose) buffer. This unequivocally demonstrates in a broad range of models that MAS (malate-aspartate shuttle) inhibition induces a state of mitochondrial pyruvate starvation (3).An unresolved observation is that mitochondria of MCU knockout mice show negligible activity of Ca2+-uptake (5), which we confirm (3). We attributed this activity to residual expression of wild-type Mcu transcripts (3) as the result of a rare event of gene-trap excision during mRNA splicing, since this activity was sensitive to ruthenium red, an inhibitor of the MCU. Besides, please also note the low MCU Ca2+ affinity (6). In vivo, the endoplasmic reticulum is thought to facilitate the generation of microcompartments of high Ca2+ concentration to allow Ca2+ uptake via MCU (6). This mechanism is compromised in MCU knockout mice and can be ruled out in isolated mitochondria....
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Letters to the Editor Source Type: research