Małgorzata Tokarska-Schlattner

Grenoble Alpes University · Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Bioenergetics (LBFA)

Neuronal senescence is a major risk factor for the development of many neurodegenerative disorders. The mechanisms that drive neurons to senescence remain largely elusive; however, dysregulated mitochondrial physiology seems to play a pivotal role in this process. Consequently, strategies aimed to preserve mitochondrial function may hold promise in...

Eukaryotic NMEs/NDP kinases are a family of 10 multifunctional proteins that occur in different cellular compartments and interact with various cellular components (proteins, membranes, and DNA). In contrast to the well-studied Group I NMEs (NME1–4), little is known about the more divergent Group II NMEs (NME5–9). Three recent publications now shed...

Acetyl and other acyl groups from different short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) competitively modify histones at various lysine sites. To fully understand the functional significance of such histone acylation, a key epigenetic mechanism, it is crucial to characterize the cellular sources of the corresponding acyl-CoA molecules required for the lysine mo...

Acetyl and other acyl groups from different short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) competitively modify histones at various lysine sites. To fully understand the functional significance of such histone acylation, a key epigenetic mechanism, it is crucial to characterize the cellular sources of the corresponding acyl-CoA molecules required for the lysine mo...

Thioesters of coenzyme A (CoA) carrying different acyl chains (acyl-CoAs) are central intermediates of many metabolic pathways and donor molecules for protein lysine acylation. Acyl-CoA species largely differ in terms of cellular concentrations and physico-chemical properties, rendering their analysis challenging. Here, we compare several approache...

The synthesis of fatty acids from acetyl-coenzyme A (AcCoA) is deregulated in diverse pathologies, including cancer. Here, we report that fatty acid accumulation is negatively regulated by nucleoside diphosphate kinases 1 and 2 (NME1/2), housekeeping enzymes involved in nucleotide homeostasis that were recently found to bind CoA. We show that NME1...

Thioesters of coenzyme A (CoA) carrying different acyl chains (acyl-CoAs) are central intermediates of many metabolic pathways and donor molecules for protein lysine acylation. Acyl-CoA species largely differ in cellular concentrations and physico-chemical properties, rendering their analysis challenging. Here we compare several approaches to quant...

De novo lipogenesis (DNL), the process whereby cells synthesize fatty acids from acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), is deregulated in diverse pathologies, including cancer. Here we report that DNL is negatively regulated by Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases 1 and 2 (NME1/2), housekeeping enzymes involved in nucleotide homeostasis that were recently disco...

Nutritional habits can have a significant impact on cardiovascular health and disease. This may also apply to cardiotoxicity caused as a frequent side effect of chemotherapeutic drugs, such as doxorubicin (DXR). The aim of this work was to analyze if diet, in particular creatine (Cr) supplementation, can modulate cardiac biochemical (energy status,...

Background NME6 is a member of the nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK/NME/Nm23) family which has key roles in nucleotide homeostasis, signal transduction, membrane remodeling and metastasis suppression. The well-studied NME1-NME4 proteins are hexameric and catalyze, via a phospho-histidine intermediate, the transfer of the terminal phosphate from...

Background Mitochondrial nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK-D, NME4, NM23-H4) is a multifunctional enzyme mainly localized in the intermembrane space, bound to the inner membrane. Results We constructed loss-of-function mutants of NDPK-D, lacking either NDP kinase activity or membrane interaction and expressed mutants or wild-type protein in canc...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key regulator of energy homeostasis under conditions of energy stress. Though heart is one of the most energy requiring organs and depends on a perfect match of energy supply with high and fluctuating energy demand to maintain its contractile performance, the role of AMPK in this organ is still not entirely...

Metabolite channeling is a general mechanism to increase efficiency of sequential reactions in a metabolic pathway. It describes the transfer of intermediates between sequential enzymes without equilibration of these metabolites with the surrounding bulk solution, forming so-called metabolons or microcompartments. It is structurally based on coloca...

During recent years, creatine kinase (CK) and its substrates phosphocreatine and creatine emerged as important players in uncoupling protein 1-independent, ATP-dependent non-shivering thermogenesis in beige/brown adipocytes. The exact thermogenic mechanism, that is facilitated by the CK system, however, still remains elusive. A futile creatine-cycl...

Isoforms of creatine kinase (CK) generate and use phosphocreatine, a concentrated and highly diffusible cellular “high energy” intermediate, for the main purpose of energy buffering and transfer in order to maintain cellular energy homeostasis. The mitochondrial CK isoform (mtCK) localizes to the mitochondrial intermembrane and cristae space, where...

Mitochondrial nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK-D; synonyms: NME4, NM23-H4) represents the major mitochondrial NDP kinase. The homohexameric complex emerged as a protein with multiple functions in bioenergetics and phospholipid signaling. It occurs at different but precise mitochondrial locations and can affect among other mitochondrial shapes an...

Mitophagy is an emerging paradigm for mitochondrial quality control and cell homeostasis. Dysregulation of mitophagy can lead to human pathologies such as neurodegenerative disorders and contributes to the aging process. Complex protein signaling cascades have been described that regulate mitophagy. We have identified a novel lipid signaling pathwa...

There is an increasing body of evidence for local circuits of ATP generation and consumption that are largely independent of global cellular ATP levels. These are mostly based on the formation of multiprotein(-lipid) complexes and diffusion limitations existing in cells at different levels of organization, e.g., due to the viscosity of the cytosoli...

Resveratrol is attracting much interest because of its potential to decrease body weight and increase life span, influencing liver and muscle function by increasing mitochondrial mass and energy expenditure. Even though resveratrol was already shown to reduce the adipose tissue mass in animal models, its effects on mitochondrial mass and network st...

Mitophagy is critical for cell homeostasis. Externalization of the inner mitochondrial membrane phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL), to the surface of the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) was identified as a mitophageal signal recognized by the microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3. However, the CL-translocating machinery remains unknown. Her...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a central cellular signaling hub that senses and responds to different kinds of stress, mainly those triggered by impaired cellular energy homeostasis. Since this is of major importance for the heart, the kinase plays important roles for cardiovascular function in human health and disease. Here, we review rece...

NM23-H4/NDPK-D forms symmetrical homohexameric complexes in the mitochondrial inter-membrane space. The well-established function of NM23-H4 is phosphotransfer activity as a nucleoside diphosphate kinase, using mitochondrial ATP to regenerate NTPs, especially GTP. NM23-H4 also strongly binds in vitro to anionic phospholipids, mainly cardiolipin (CL...

A novel paradigm for the function of the mitochondrial nucleoside diphosphate kinase NM23-H4/NDPK-D is proposed: acting as a bifunctional nanoswitch in bioenergetics and cardiolipin (CL) trafficking and signaling. Similar to some other mitochondrial proteins like cytochrome c or AIF, NM23-H4 seems to have dual functions in bioenergetics and apoptot...

ATAD3 is a vital ATPase of the inner mitochondrial membrane of pluri-cellular eucaryotes with largely unknown functions. Invalidation of ATAD3 blocks organism development at early stages requiring mitochondrial mass increase. Since ATAD3 knock-down (KD) in C. elegans inhibits first of all the development of adipocyte-like intestinal tissue, we used...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and cytosolic brain-type creatine kinase (BCK) cooperate under energy stress to compensate for loss of ATP by either stimulating ATP-generating and inhibiting ATP-consuming pathways, or by direct ATP regeneration from phosphocreatine, respectively. Here we report on AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of BCK from diff...

Mitochondria are vulnerable to damage, particularly by oxidative stress-induced injury imposed by many genetic and environmental factors. These malfunctioning mitochondria have to be eliminated to prevent an increasing generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that could trigger cell injury and death. This selective elimination of damaged mitocho...

Subcellular microcompartments, consisting of multienzyme complexes embedded within the cellular, highly viscous matrix, associated with the cytoskeleton, or situated along membranes, are operating according to exclusion principles and favor preferred pathways of intermediates. This process, called metabolite or substrate channeling, is defined as t...

Background: Ubiquitous mitochondrial creatine kinase (uMtCK) accumulates as macroenzyme creatine kinase type 2 (macro CK2) in the serum of HIV-infected patients under a tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-containing antiretroviral regimen. The genesis and clinical significance of this finding is unclear. Methods: A prospective observational 5-ye...

Nm23-H4/NDPK-D forms symmetrical homohexameric complexes in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. The well established function of the enzyme is phosphotransfer activity as a nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK), using mitochondrial ATP to regenerate nucleoside triphosphates. Nm23-H4 is further known to strongly bind in vitro to anionic phospholip...

The nucleoside diphosphate kinase Nm23-H4/NDPK-D forms symmetrical hexameric complexes in the mitochondrial intermembrane space with phosphotransfer activity using mitochondrial ATP to regenerate nucleoside triphosphates. We demonstrate the complex formation between Nm23-H4 and mitochondrial GTPase OPA1 in rat liver, suggesting its involvement in l...

A broad spectrum of beneficial effects has been ascribed to creatine (Cr), phosphocreatine (PCr) and their cyclic analogues cyclo-(cCr) and phospho-cyclocreatine (PcCr). Cr is widely used as nutritional supplement in sports and increasingly also as adjuvant treatment for pathologies such as myopathies and a plethora of neurodegenerative diseases. A...

Cardiotoxic side effects of anthracyclines, the most widely used anticancer drugs, are well documented, while mechanisms involved are not fully elucidated. The cellular energy sensor and regulator AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was suggested as a putative mediator of cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin, the leading anthracycline drug, by our earlier...

The successful use of anthracyclines like doxorubicin in chemotherapy is limited by their severe cardiotoxicity. Despite decades of clinical application, a satisfying description of the molecular mechanisms involved and a preventive treatment have not yet been achieved. Here we address doxorubicin-induced changes in cell signaling as a novel potent...

Mitochondria-specific cardiolipin (CL) is mostly confined to the site of its biosynthesis, the inner mitochondrial membrane. Some CL remodeling occurs in the ER and thus implies the necessity of CL trafficking across mitochondrial membranes. The involved mechanisms are unknown. However, we have recently identified mitochondrial nucleoside diphospha...

The pleiotropic effects of creatine (Cr) are based mostly on the functions of the enzyme creatine kinase (CK) and its high-energy product phosphocreatine (PCr). Multidisciplinary studies have established molecular, cellular, organ and somatic functions of the CK/PCr system, in particular for cells and tissues with high and intermittent energy fluct...

Doxorubicin (DXR) belongs to the most efficient anticancer drugs. However, its clinical application is limited by the risk of severe cardiac-specific toxicity, for which an efficient treatment is missing. Underlying molecular mechanisms are not sufficiently understood so far, but nonbiased, systemic approaches can yield new clues to develop targete...

Mitochondrial creatine kinase (MtCK) is a key enzyme for bioenergetics, membrane topology and possibly also for general organelle morphology. X-ray structural analysis (1), EM (2) and mutational studies with SPR (3,4) revealed that the large MtCK octamers bind to and “cross-link” mitochondrial membranes by their two identical top or bottom faces (5...

Oxidative modifications of creatine kinase (CK) isoenzymes are thought to play a critical role during pathologies involving oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS, RNS) not only induce enzymatic inactivation, which occurs with all CK isoenzymes, but also specific damage to the mitochondrial CK isoforms, namely interference with...

Development of cardiac hypertrophy and progression to heart failure entails profound changes in myocardial metabolism, characterized by a switch from fatty acid utilization to glycolysis and lipid accumulation. We report that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)1alpha and PPARgamma, key mediators of glycolysis and lipid anabolism, respectively, are joint...

Mitochondrial isoforms of creatine kinase (MtCK) and nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK-D) are not phylogenetically related but share functionally important properties. They both use mitochondrially generated ATP with the ultimate goal of maintaining proper nucleotide pools, are located in the intermembrane/cristae space, have symmetrical oligomer...

Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPKs/Nm23), responsible for intracellular di- and tri-phosphonucleoside homeostasis, play multi-faceted roles in cellular energetic, signaling, proliferation, differentiation and tumor invasion. The mitochondrial NDPK-D, the NME4 gene product, is a peripheral protein of the inner membrane. Several new aspects of the...

Molecular functions of mitochondrial nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK-D) were studied using different biophysical and biochemical techniques. Subfractionation of rat liver and HEK 293 cell mitochondria revealed that NDPK-D is essentially bound to the inner membrane. The kinase interacted electrostatically with anionic phospholipids, showing high...

Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK/Nm23), responsible for intracellular di- and triphosphonucleoside homeostasis, plays multiple roles in cellular energetics, signaling, proliferation, differentiation and tumor invasion. The only human NDPK with a mitochondrial targeting sequence is NDPK-D, the NME4 gene product, which is a peripheral protein of m...

Doxorubicin (DXR) belongs to the most efficient anticancer drugs. However, its use is limited by a risk of cardiotoxicity, which is not completely understood. Recently, we have shown that DXR impairs essential properties of purified mitochondrial creatine kinase (MtCK), with cardiac isoenzyme (sMtCK) being particularly sensitive. In this study we a...

Intracellular sensors of cellular energy and nutrient status are emerging as key players in the regulation of cell metabolism in health and disease. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) participates in the control of cellular and whole-body energy balance by its exquisite sensitivity to AMP. AMPK is thus able to sense and to react to an increasing A...

Evidence for the important physiological role of the creatine kinase (CK)- phosphocreatine (PCr) system in energy homeostasis in sarcomeric muscle, brain, and other organs of high and fluctuating energy requirements is presented in the context of defined subcellular compartments of CK isoenzymes with processes of energy production, i.e., glycolysis...

We show in this study that mitochondrial creatine kinase promotes segregation and clustering of cardiolipin in mixed membranes, a phenomenon that has been proposed to occur at contact sites in the mitochondria. This property of mitochondrial creatine kinase is dependent on the native octameric structure of the protein and does not occur after heat-...