Mitochondrial HSF1 triggers mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease.

Chunyue Liu, Zixing Fu, Shanshan Wu, Xiaosong Wang, Shengrong Zhang, Chu Chu, Yuan Hong, Wenbo Wu, Shengqi Chen, Yueqing Jiang, Yang Wu, Yongbo Song, Yan Liu, Xing Guo

EMBO molecular medicine 2022 Jul 07

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Aberrant localization of proteins to mitochondria disturbs mitochondrial function and contributes to the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease (HD). However, the crucial factors and the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we found that heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) accumulates in the mitochondria of HD cell models, a YAC128 mouse model, and human striatal organoids derived from HD induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Overexpression of mitochondria-targeting HSF1 (mtHSF1) in the striatum causes neurodegeneration and HD-like behavior in mice. Mechanistically, mtHSF1 facilitates mitochondrial fission by activating dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) phosphorylation at S616. Moreover, mtHSF1 suppresses single-stranded DNA-binding protein 1 (SSBP1) oligomer formation, which results in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion. The suppression of HSF1 mitochondrial localization by DH1, a unique peptide inhibitor, abolishes HSF1-induced mitochondrial abnormalities and ameliorates deficits in an HD animal model and human striatal organoids. Altogether, our findings describe an unsuspected role of HSF1 in contributing to mitochondrial dysfunction, which may provide a promising therapeutic target for HD. © 2022 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

Citation

Chunyue Liu, Zixing Fu, Shanshan Wu, Xiaosong Wang, Shengrong Zhang, Chu Chu, Yuan Hong, Wenbo Wu, Shengqi Chen, Yueqing Jiang, Yang Wu, Yongbo Song, Yan Liu, Xing Guo. Mitochondrial HSF1 triggers mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease. EMBO molecular medicine. 2022 Jul 07;14(7):e15851