Mitochondrial fusion in higher eukaryotes requires at least two essential GTPases, Mitofusin 1 and Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2). We have created an activated mutant of Mfn2, which shows increased rates of nucleotide exchange and decreased rates of hydrolysis relative to wild type Mfn2. Mitochondrial fusion is stimulated dramatically within heterokaryons expressing this mutant, demonstrating that hydrolysis is not requisite for the fusion event, and supporting a role for Mfn2 as a signaling GTPase. Although steady-state mitochondrial fusion required the conserved intermembrane space tryptophan residue, this requirement was overcome within the context of the hydrolysis-deficient mutant. Furthermore, the punctate localization of Mfn2 is lost in the dominant active mutants, indicating that these sites are functionally controlled by changes in the nucleotide state of Mfn2. Upon staurosporine-stimulated cell death, activated Bax is recruited to the Mfn2-containing puncta; however, Bax activation and cytochrome c release are inhibited in the presence of the dominant active mutants of Mfn2. The dominant active form of Mfn2 also protected the mitochondria against free radicalinduced permeability transition. In contrast to staurosporine-induced outer membrane permeability transition, pore opening induced through the introduction of free radicals was dependent upon the conserved intermembrane space residue. This is the first evidence that Mfn2 is a signaling GTPase regulating mitochondrial fusion and that the nucleotidedependent activation of Mfn2 concomitantly protects the organelle from permeability transition. The data provide new insights into the critical relationship between mitochondrial membrane dynamics and programmed cell death.

Tissues and organs provide the structural and biochemical landscapes upon which microbial pathogens and commensals function to regulate health and disease. While flat two-dimensional (2-D) monolayers composed of a single cell type have provided important insight into understanding host-pathogen interactions and infectious disease mechanisms, these reductionist models lack many essential features present in the native host microenvironment that are known to regulate infection, including three-dimensional (3-D) architecture, multicellular complexity, commensal microbiota, gas exchange and nutrient gradients, and physiologically relevant biomechanical forces (e.g., fluid shear, stretch, compression). A major challenge in tissue engineering for infectious disease research is recreating this dynamic 3-D microenvironment (biological, chemical, and physical/mechanical) to more accurately model the initiation and progression of host-pathogen interactions in the laboratory. Here we review selected 3-D models of human intestinal mucosa, which represent a major portal of entry for infectious pathogens and an important niche for commensal microbiota. We highlight seminal studies that have used these models to interrogate host-pathogen interactions and infectious disease mechanisms, and we present this literature in the appropriate historical context. Models discussed include 3-D organotypic cultures engineered in the rotating wall vessel (RWV) bioreactor, extracellular matrix (ECM)-embedded/organoid models, and organ-on-a-chip (OAC) models. Collectively, these technologies provide a more physiologically relevant and predictive framework for investigating infectious disease mechanisms and antimicrobial therapies at the intersection of the host, microbe, and their local microenvironments.

P2X7 purinergic receptor engagement with extracellular ATP induces transmembrane potassium and calcium flux resulting in assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome in LPS-primed macrophages. The role of potassium and calcium in inflammasome regulation is not well understood, largely due to limitations in existing methods for interrogating potassium in real time. The use of KS6, a novel sensor for selective and sensitive dynamic visualization of intracellular potassium flux in live cells, multiplexed with the intracellular calcium sensor Fluo-4, revealed a coordinated relationship between potassium and calcium. Interestingly, the mitochondrial potassium pool was mobilized in a P2X7 signaling, and ATP dose-dependent manner, suggesting a role for mitochondrial sensing of cytosolic ion perturbation. Through treatment with extracellular potassium we found that potassium efflux was necessary to permit sustained calcium entry, but not transient calcium flux from intracellular stores. Further, intracellular calcium chelation with BAPTA-AM indicated that P2X7-induced potassium depletion was independent of calcium mobilization. This evidence suggests that both potassium efflux and calcium influx are necessary for mitochondrial reactive oxygen generation upstream of NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and pyroptotic cell death. We propose a model wherein potassium efflux is necessary for calcium influx, resulting in mitochondrial reactive oxygen generation to trigger the NLRP3 inflammasome.

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