FUNDC1 activates the mitochondrial unfolded protein response to preserve mitochondrial quality control in cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury.

The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) is an adaptive transcriptional response involving the activation of proteases, chaperones, and antioxidant enzymes and serves to degrade abnormal or unfolded proteins and restore mitochondrial function. Although the cardioprotective action of the UPRmt has been verified in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injuries, the upstream signals involved remain unclear. Here, we explored the regulatory mechanisms underlying UPRmt in the reperfused mouse heart. UPRmt was slightly activated by I/R injury. UPRmt activation (using oligomycin) and inhibition (with the protease inhibitor AEBSF) respectively alleviated and augmented the reperfusion-mediated myocardial damage. Gene expression analysis demonstrated that oxidative stress was partly inhibited by UPRmt through upregulation of mitochondria-localized, not cytoplasmic, antioxidant enzymes. Contributing to cardiomyocyte survival under I/R, the transcription of pro-apoptotic proteins Bcl2 and c-IAP was also stimulated by UPRmt. Moreover, UPRmt upregulated mitochondrial fusion-related, but not fission-related, genes and stimulated the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis markers in reperfused hearts. Finally, we found that FUN14 domain containing 1 (FUNDC1)-mediated mitophagy induces the mitochondrial DNA decrease, triggering UPRmt. These results demonstrate that FUNDC1 functions upstream of the UPRmt to maintain mitochondrial quality control during myocardial I/R injury.