Autoregulatory control of mitochondrial glutathione homeostasis

Science. 2023 Nov 17;382(6672):820-828. doi: 10.1126/science.adf4154. Epub 2023 Nov 2.

Abstract

Mitochondria must maintain adequate amounts of metabolites for protective and biosynthetic functions. However, how mitochondria sense the abundance of metabolites and regulate metabolic homeostasis is not well understood. In this work, we focused on glutathione (GSH), a critical redox metabolite in mitochondria, and identified a feedback mechanism that controls its abundance through the mitochondrial GSH transporter, SLC25A39. Under physiological conditions, SLC25A39 is rapidly degraded by mitochondrial protease AFG3L2. Depletion of GSH dissociates AFG3L2 from SLC25A39, causing a compensatory increase in mitochondrial GSH uptake. Genetic and proteomic analyses identified a putative iron-sulfur cluster in the matrix-facing loop of SLC25A39 as essential for this regulation, coupling mitochondrial iron homeostasis to GSH import. Altogether, our work revealed a paradigm for the autoregulatory control of metabolic homeostasis in organelles.

MeSH terms

  • ATP-Dependent Proteases* / genetics
  • ATP-Dependent Proteases* / metabolism
  • ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities* / genetics
  • ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities* / metabolism
  • Feedback, Physiological
  • Glutathione* / metabolism
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Homeostasis
  • Humans
  • Iron / metabolism
  • Iron-Sulfur Proteins / metabolism
  • Mitochondria* / metabolism
  • Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Mitochondrial Proteins* / metabolism
  • Phosphate Transport Proteins* / metabolism
  • Proteolysis
  • Proteomics

Substances

  • Glutathione
  • Iron
  • Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins
  • SLC25A3 protein, human
  • Mitochondrial Proteins
  • Phosphate Transport Proteins
  • Iron-Sulfur Proteins
  • AFG3L2 protein, human
  • ATP-Dependent Proteases
  • ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities