engleski

Identification of phosphatase responsible for dephosphorylation of mitochondrial protein NIX

Removal of mitochondria, by the process of mitophagy, maintains a healthy population of mitochondria and contributes to maintenance of cell homeostasis. Recent research indicates the importance of mitochondrial protein NIX dimerization, whereas the regulation of protein dimerization remains unknown. The aim of this study was to identify the phosphatase responsible for dephosphorylation of the mitochondrial protein NIX, thus regulating the dimerization of protein NIX. Phosphatase PP1 was selected by searching the literature. Pull- down and Western blot analysis were used to investigate the interaction of PP1 phosphatase with NIX protein, as well as its mutants, in vitro in HEK293 cells. The effect of PP1 phosphatase in mitophagy induction was investigated with RNA interference assay in vivo in model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, both under normal conditions, as well as in the presence of mitochondrial toxin - paraquat. The results confirm the interaction between PP1 phosphatase and mitochondrial protein NIX. Moreover, the results show that PP1 inhibits mitophagy under normal conditions but show no impact after the induction of mitophagy.

autophagy, mitophagy, NIX, PP1, phosphatase

nije evidentirano