Combined Respiratory Chain Deficiency and UQCC2 Mutations in Neonatal Encephalomyopathy: Defective Supercomplex Assembly in Complex III Deficiencies
OXIDATIVE MEDICINE AND CELLULAR LONGEVITY
Authors: Feichtinger, Rene G.; Brunner-Krainz, Michaela; Alhaddad, Bader; Wortmann, Saskia B.; Kovacs-Nagy, Reka; Stojakovic, Tatjana; Erwa, Wolfgang; Resch, Bernhard; Windischhofer, Werner; Verheyen, Sarah; Uhrig, Sabine; Windpassinger, Christian; Locker, Felix; Makowski, Christine; Strom, Tim M.; Meitinger, Thomas; Prokisch, Holger; Sperl, Wolfgang; Haack, Tobias B.; Mayr, Johannes A.
Abstract
Vertebrate respiratory chain complex III consists of eleven subunits. Mutations in five subunits either mitochondrial (MT-CYB) or nuclear (CYC1, UQCRC2, UQCRB, and UQCRQ) encoded have been reported. Defects in five further factors for assembly (TTC19, UQCC2, and UQCC3) or iron-sulphur cluster loading (BCS1L and LYRM7) cause complex III deficiency. Here, we report a second patient with UQCC2 deficiency. This girl was born prematurely; pregnancy was complicated by intrauterine growth retardation and oligohydramnios. She presented with respiratory distress syndrome, developed epileptic seizures progressing to status epilepticus, and died at day 33. She had profound lactic acidosis and elevated urinary pyruvate. Exome sequencing revealed two homozygous missense variants in UQCC2, leading to a severe reduction of UQCC2 protein. Deficiency of complexes I and III was found enzymatically and on the protein level. A review of the literature on genetically distinct complex III defects revealed that, except TTC19 deficiency, the biochemical pattern was very often a combined respiratory chain deficiency. Besides complex III, typically, complex I was decreased, in some cases complex IV. In accordance with previous observations, the presence of assembled complex III is required for the stability or assembly of complexes I and IV, which might be related to respirasome/supercomplex formation.
Development of a Novel Class of Mitochondrial Ubiquinol-Cytochrome c Reductase Binding Protein (UQCRB) Modulators as Promising Antiangiogenic Leads
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
Authors: Jung, Hye Jin; Cho, Misun; Kim, Yonghyo; Han, Gyoonhee; Kwon, Ho Jeong
Abstract
Recently we identified a novel therapeutic target and small molecule for regulating angiogenesis. Our study showed that ubiquinol-cytochrome c-reductase binding protein (UQCRB) of the mitochondrial complex III plays a crucial role in hypoxia-induced angiogenesis via mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated signaling. Herein, we developed new synthetic small molecules that specifically bind to UQCRB and regulate its function. To improve the pharmacological properties of 6-((1-hydroxynaphthalen 4-ylamino)dioxysulfone) 2H naphtho[1,8-bc]thiophen-2-one (HDNT), a small molecule that targets UQCRB, a series of HDNT derivatives were designed and synthesied. Several derivatives showed a significant increase in hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) inhibitory potency. compared to HDNT. The compounds bound to UQCRB and suppressed mitochondrial ROS-mediated hypoxic signaling, resulting in potent inhibitor of angiogenesis without inducing cytotoxicity. Notably, one of these new derivatives significantly suppressed tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model. Therefore, these mitochondrial UQCRB modulators could be potential leads for the development of novel antiangiogen agents.