TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kobel-Höller, Konstanze
A1  - Gley, Kevin
A1  - Jochinke, Janina
A1  - Heider, Kristina
A1  - Fritsch, Verena Nadin
A1  - Ha Viet Duc Nguyen, 
A1  - Lischke, Timo
A1  - Radek, Renate
A1  - Baumgrass, Ria
A1  - Mutzel, Rupert
A1  - Thewes, Sascha
T1  - Calcineurin Silencing in Dictyostelium discoideum Leads to Cellular Alterations Affecting Mitochondria, Gene Expression, and Oxidative Stress Response
JF  - Protist
N2  - Calcineurin is involved in development and cell differentiation of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. However, since knockouts of the calcineurin-encoding genes are not possible in D. discoideum it is assumed that the phosphatase also plays a crucial role during vegetative growth of the amoebae. Therefore, we investigated the role of calcineurin during vegetative growth in D. discoideum. RNAi-silenced calcineurin mutants showed cellular alterations with an abnormal morphology of mitochondria and had increased content of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In contrast, mitochondria showed no substantial functional impairment. Calcineurin-silencing led to altered expression of calcium-regulated genes as well as mitochondrially-encoded genes. Furthermore, genes related to oxidative stress were higher expressed in the mutants, which correlated to an increased resistance towards reactive oxygen species (ROS). Most of the changes observed during vegetative growth were not seen after starvation of the calcineurin mutants. We show that impairment of calcineurin led to many subtle, but in the sum crucial cellular alterations in vegetative D. discoideum cells. As these alterations were not observed after starvation we propose a dual role for calcineurin during growth and development. Our results imply that calcineurin is one player in the mutual interplay between mitochondria and ROS during vegetative growth.
KW  - mtDNA
KW  - mitochondrial remodelling
KW  - calcium
KW  - oxidative stress
KW  - phototaxis
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2018.04.004
SN  - 1434-4610
VL  - 169
IS  - 4
SP  - 584
EP  - 602
PB  - Elsevier GMBH
CY  - München
ER  -