Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction have been linked to dopaminergic neuron degeneration in Parkinson disease. We have previously shown that dopamine oxidation leads to selective dopaminergic terminal degeneration in vivo and alters mitochondrial function in vitro. In this study, we utilized 2-D difference in-gel electrophoresis to assess changes in the mitochondrial proteome following in vitro exposure to reactive dopamine quinone. A subset of proteins exhibit decreased fluorescence labeling following dopamine oxidation, suggesting a rapid loss of specific proteins. Amongst these proteins are mitochondrial creatine kinase, mitofilin, mortalin, the 75 kDa subunit of NADH dehydrogenase, and superoxide dismutase 2. Western blot analyses for mitochondrial creatine kinase and mitofilin confirmed significant losses in isolated brain mitochondria exposed to dopamine quinone and PC12 cells exposed to dopamine. These results suggest that specific mitochondrial proteins are uniquely susceptible to changes in abundance following dopamine oxidation, and carry implications for mitochondrial stability in Parkinson disease neurodegeneration.

Disruption of the dynamic properties of mitochondria (fission, fusion, transport, degradation, and biogenesis) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Parkin, the product of gene PARK2 whose mutation causes familial PD, has been linked to mitochondrial quality control via its role in regulating mitochondrial dynamics, including mitochondrial degradation via mitophagy. Models using mitochondrial stressors in numerous cell types have elucidated a PINK1-dependent pathway whereby Parkin accumulates on damaged mitochondria and targets them for mitophagy. However, the role Parkin plays in regulating mitochondrial homeostasis specifically in neurons has been less clear. We examined whether a stressor linked to neurodegeneration, glutamate excitotoxicity, elicits Parkin-mitochondrial translocation and mitophagy in neurons. We found that brief, acute exposure to glutamate causes Parkin translocation to mitochondria in neurons, in a calcium- and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent manner. In addition, we found that Parkin accumulates on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondrial/ER junctions following excitotoxicity, supporting a role for Parkin in mitochondrial-ER crosstalk in mitochondrial homeostasis. Despite significant Parkin-mitochondria translocation, however, we did not observe mitophagy under these conditions. To further investigate, we examined the role of glutamate-induced oxidative stress in Parkin-mitochondria accumulation. Unexpectedly, we found that glutamate-induced accumulation of Parkin on mitochondria was promoted by the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), and that co-treatment with NAC facilitated Parkin-associated mitophagy. These results suggest the possibility that mitochondrial depolarization and oxidative damage may have distinct pathways associated with Parkin function in neurons, which may be critical in understanding the role of Parkin in neurodegeneration.

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are known to contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Dopaminergic neurons may be more sensitive to these stressors because they contain dopamine (DA), a molecule that oxidizes to the electrophilic dopamine quinone (DAQ) which can covalently bind nucleophilic amino acid residues such as cysteine. The identification of proteins that are sensitive to covalent modification and functional alteration by DAQ is of great interest. We have hypothesized that selenoproteins, which contain a highly nucleophilic selenocysteine residue and often play vital roles in the maintenance of neuronal viability, are likely targets for the DAQ. Here we report the findings of our studies on the effect of DA oxidation and DAQ on the mitochondrial antioxidant selenoprotein Glutathione Peroxidase 4 (GPx4). Purified GPx4 could be covalently modified by DAQ, and the addition of DAQ to rat testes lysate resulted in dose dependent decreases in GPx4 activity and monomeric protein levels. Exposing intact rat brain mitochondria to DAQ resulted in similar decreases in GPx4 activity and monomeric protein levels as well as detection of multiple forms of DA-conjugated GPx4 protein. Evidence of both GPx4 degradation and polymerization was observed following DAQ exposure. Finally, we observed a dose dependent loss of mitochondrial GPx4 in differentiated PC12 cells treated with dopamine. Our findings suggest that a decrease in mitochondrial GPx4 monomer and a functional loss of activity may be a contributing factor to the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease.