MCU-complex-mediated mitochondrial calcium signaling is impaired in Barth syndrome

Calcium signaling via mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex coordinates mitochondrial bioenergetics with cellular energy demands. Emerging studies show that the stability and activity of the pore-forming subunit of the complex, MCU, is dependent on the mitochondrial phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL), but how this impacts calcium-dependent mitochondrial bioenergetics in CL-deficiency disorder like Barth syndrome (BTHS) is not known. Here we utilized multiple models of BTHS including yeast, mouse muscle cell line, as well as BTHS patient cells and cardiac tissue to show that CL is required for the abundance and stability of the MCU-complex regulatory subunit MICU1. Interestingly, the reduction in MICU1 abundance in BTHS mitochondria is independent of MCU. Unlike MCU and MICU1/MICU2, other subunit and associated factor of the uniporter complex, EMRE and MCUR1, respectively, are not affected in BTHS models. Consistent with the decrease in MICU1 levels, we show that the kinetics of MICU1-dependent mitochondrial calcium uptake is perturbed and acute stimulation of mitochondrial calcium signaling in BTHS myoblasts fails to activate pyruvate dehydrogenase, which in turn impairs the generation of reducing equivalents and blunts mitochondrial bioenergetics. Taken together, our findings suggest that defects in mitochondrial calcium signaling could contribute to cardiac and skeletal muscle pathologies observed in BTHS patients.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the importance of mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin in the stability and activity of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex regulatory subunit MICU1 in Barth syndrome patients. The decrease in MICU1 levels disrupts mitochondrial calcium uptake kinetics, leading to the impairment of pyruvate dehydrogenase activation and reducing equivalents generation, ultimately affecting mitochondrial bioenergetics. Defects in mitochondrial calcium signaling may contribute to cardiac and skeletal muscle pathologies in Barth syndrome patients, highlighting a potential therapeutic target for this disorder.