Mitochondrial fusion supports increased oxidative phosphorylation during cell proliferation

https://elifesciences.org/articles/41351

Cong-Hui Yao, Rencheng Wang, Yahui Wang, Che-Pei Kung, Jason D Weber, Gary J Patti

• The authors show that mouse fibroblasts increase oxidative phosphorylation by nearly x2, and mitochondrial coupling efficiency by ~30%, during proliferation. Both of these changes are supported by mitochondrial fusion.
• Modulating mitochondrial fusion through Mfn2 levels caused modulation in proliferation rate. Decreases in fusion decreased OXPHOS but not ATP levels.
• The authors suggest that cell proliferation requires increased OXPHOS supported by mitochondrial fusion.