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Review
. 2017 Aug 23:6:21.
doi: 10.1186/s40035-017-0092-6. eCollection 2017.

Endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria tethering in neurodegenerative diseases

Yi Liu  1 , Xiongwei Zhu  1
Affiliations
Review

Endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria tethering in neurodegenerative diseases

Yi Liu et al. Transl Neurodegener. .

Abstract

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria are tubular organelles with a characteristic "network structure" that facilitates the formation of inter-organellar connections. As a result, mitochondria-associated ER membranes (MAMs), a subdomain of the ER that is tightly linked to and communicates with mitochondria, serve multiple physiological functions including lipid synthesis and exchange, calcium signaling, bioenergetics, and apoptosis. Importantly, emerging evidence suggests that the abnormality and dysfunction of MAMs have been involved in various neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. This review will focus on the architecture and function of MAMs and its involvement in the neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Mitochondria-ER tethering; Mitochondria-associated ER membrane; Parkinson’s disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

X.Z. is a paid consultant of Sierra Research Group LLC.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Global view of the architecture/choreography of ER–mitochondria contacts. As depicted, a part of ER tubule and mitochondria form quasi-synaptic structure. Several pairs of integral membrane proteins located on mitochondria and ER important for MERC formation and physical tethering of the organelles were identified, including Mfn1/2 tether, Fis1-Bap31 tether, VAPB-PTPIP51 tether and IP3R-grp75-VDAC1 tripartite complex. The latter is essential for the efficient Ca2+ transfer from the ER to mitochondria. MAM: mitochondria associated ER membrane, OMM = outer mitochondrial membrane, IMM: inner mitochondrial membrane, Mx = matrix, ETC: electron transport chain, TAC: tricarboxylic acid cycle
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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