Starvation-induced autophagosomes engulf cytosol and/or organelles and deliver them to lysosomes for degradation, thereby re-supplying depleted nutrients. Despite advances in understanding the molecular basis of this process, the membrane origin of autophagosomes remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that, in starved cells, autophagosomes are derived from the outer membranes of mitochondria. In time-lapse movies, the early autophagosomal marker, mApg5, transiently localizes to punctae on the surface of mitochondria, followed by the late autophagosomal marker, LC3. A unique tail-anchored outer mitochondrial membrane protein, but not other outer nor inner mitochondrial membrane proteins, labels autophagosomes and diffuses into newly forming autophagosomes from mitochondria. The fluorescent lipid, NBD-PS (which converts to PE in mitochondria) transfers from mitochondria to autophagosomes in starved cells. In addition, when mitochondria/ER connections are perturbed by loss of mitofusin2, starvation-induced autophagosomes do not form. Mitochondria thus play a central role in starvation-induced autophagy, serving as membrane source of autophagosomes.

Mitochondria undergo fission-fusion events that render these organelles highly dynamic in cells. We report a relationship between mitochondrial form and cell cycle control at the G1-S boundary. Mitochondria convert from isolated, fragmented elements into a hyperfused, giant network at G1-S transition. The network is electrically continuous and has greater ATP output than mitochondria at any other cell cycle stage. Depolarizing mitochondria at early G1 to prevent these changes causes cell cycle progression into S phase to be blocked. Inducing mitochondrial hyperfusion by acute inhibition of dynamin-related protein-1 (DRP1) causes quiescent cells maintained without growth factors to begin replicating their DNA and coincides with buildup of cyclin E, the cyclin responsible for G1-to-S phase progression. Prolonged or untimely formation of hyperfused mitochondria, through chronic inhibition of DRP1, causes defects in mitotic chromosome alignment and S-phase entry characteristic of cyclin E overexpression. These findings suggest a hyperfused mitochondrial system with specialized properties at G1-S is linked to cyclin E buildup for regulation of G1-to-S progression.cell cycle ͉ mitochondrial morphology ͉ dynamin-related protein 1

Background:Myofibroblasts, by virtue of their functions, are highly energy-dependent. Results: TGF-␤1-induced myofibroblast differentiation is associated with a metabolic reprogramming. This metabolic adaptation is essential to the expression of myofibroblast-related genes. Conclusion: Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of myofibroblast differentiation and is critical for its contractile function. Significance: This is the first report that links bioenergetics to myofibroblast activation.

Mitochondrial shape change, brought about by molecules that promote either fission or fusion between individual mitochondria, has been documented in several model systems. However, the deeper significance of mitochondrial shape change has only recently begun to emerge: among others, it appears to play a role in the regulation of cell proliferation. Here, I review the emerging interplay between mitochondrial fission-fusion components with cell cycle regulatory machineries and how that may impact cell differentiation. Regulation of mitochondrial shape may modulate mitochondrial metabolism and/or energetics to promote crosstalk between signaling components and the cell cycle machinery. Focused research in this area will reveal the exact role of mitochondria in development and disease, specifically in stem cell regulation and tumorigenesis. Such research may also reveal whether and how the endosymbiotic event that gave rise to the mitochondrion was crucial for the evolution of cell cycle regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotes that are absent in prokaryotes.

Reduced Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission decreases cell cycle exit and prevents Notch-dependent follicle cell differentiation during oogenesis.