Ginkgolic acids (GAs) are found in the leaves, nuts, and testa of Ginkgo biloba and have been reported to exhibit antitumor, antibacterial, and pro-apoptotic activities. However, their role in mitochondrial function is still unclear. Our previous study showed that genes related to the mitochondria present significant changes in GA-treated mouse bone marrow stromal cells. We hypothesize that GAs may regulate mitochondrial function. Here, we found that GA treatment induced mitochondrial fragmentation, reduced mtDNA copy numbers and mitochondrial protein levels, and impaired mitochondrial adenosine 5'-triphosphate production and oxygen consumption. The GA-induced mitochondrial mass loss may be due to decreased mitochondrial biogenesis. In addition, abolishing autophagy by Atg7 knockout or the administration of an autophagy inhibitor can restore the GA-induced decrease in mitochondrial mass. Furthermore, FUNDC1 knockdown restored the GA-induced changes in mitochondrial mass reduction and mitochondrial membrane potential loss. Together, our studies demonstrated that GAs impaired mitochondrial function by decreasing mitochondrial biogenesis and promoting FUNDC1-dependent mitophagy.
Keywords: FUNDC1; ginkgolic acids; mitochondria; mitophagy.