Parkin, as a Regulator, Participates in Arsenic Trioxide-Triggered Mitophagy in HeLa Cells

Abstract

Parkin is a well-established synergistic mediator of mitophagy in dysfunctional mitochondria. Mitochondria are the main target of arsenic trioxide (ATO) cytotoxicity, and the effect of mitophagy on ATO action remains unclear. In this study, we used stable Parkin-expressing (YFP-Parkin) and Parkin loss-of-function mutant (Parkin C431S) HeLa cell models to ascertain whether Parkin-mediated mitophagy participates in ATO-induced apoptosis/cell death. Our data showed that the overexpression of Parkin significantly sensitized HeLa cells to ATO-initiated proliferation inhibition and apoptosis; however, the mutation of Parkin C431S significantly weakened this Parkin-mediated responsiveness. Our further investigation found that ATO significantly downregulated two fusion proteins (Mfn1/2) and upregulated fission-related protein (Drp1). Autophagy was also activated as evidenced by the formation of autophagic vacuoles and mitophagosomes, increased expression of PINK1, and recruitment of Parkin to impaired mitochondria followed by their degradation, accompanied by the increased transformation of LC3-I to LC3-II, increased expression of Beclin1 and decreased expression of P62 in YFP-Parkin HeLa cells. Enhanced mitochondrial fragmentation and autophagy indicated that mitophagy was activated. Furthermore, during the process of mitophagy, the overproduction of ROS implied that ROS might represent a key factor that initiates mitophagy following Parkin recruitment to mitochondria. In conclusion, our findings indicate that Parkin is critically involved in ATO-triggered mitophagy and functions as a potential antiproliferative target in cancer cells.

Correction: Zhang et al. Parkin, as a Regulator, Participates in Arsenic Trioxide-Triggered Mitophagy in HeLa Cells. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2022, 44, 2759–2771

“…In the published publication [1], there were some errors regarding the email addresses for Wang Jingyu and Hou Jinxia. The correct email addresses should be wangjingyu@lzu.edu.cn and houjx17@lzu.edu.cn.…”

“…In the original publication [1], there was a mistake in Figure 5A in the published paper. YFP parkin cells are HeLa cells with YFP Parkin gene transferred.…”

Molecules at Play in Cancer

“…The 24 chapters present the contributions of 166 researchers from 16 countries: Brazil (14), China (12), Ecuador (2), Greece (10), Hungary (8), Italy (4), Japan (25), Korea (29), Mexico (11), Poland (5), Portugal (2), Russia (2), Switzerland (7), the UK (1) and the USA (27). The articles reported new molecular findings regarding the following types of cancer: blood [ 1 , 2 ], breast [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], kidney [ 6 ], liver [ 7 , 8 ], lung [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], ovary [ 10 , 13 , 14 ], prostate [ 15 ], soft tissue [ 16 ], gastric [ 17 , 18 ], testicular [ 19 ], cervical [ 20 , 21 ], and adrenal gland [ 22 ].…”

“…Other authors used human cancer cell lines to elucidate the responsible molecular mechanisms. Thus, HeLa cells were used by Zhang et al [ 21 ] to test the role of Parkin as synergistic mediator of mitophagy in dysfunctional mitochondria. The testicular teratocarcinoma NCCIT and NTERA2 lines helped Chen et al [ 19 ] to evaluate the therapeutic role of PNU-74654, and prostate cancer LNCaP and DU145 lines were used by Iacobas and Iacobas [ 15 ] to identify gene master regulators.…”