ArticlePloS one2012
Mitochondrial fusion is essential for steroid biosynthesis.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 144 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Size of chloroplasts in Arabidopsis mesophyll cells affects jasmonate biosynthesis.Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2026Article
- Electron tomography reveals mitochondrial network and cristae remodelling during cell differentiation in the human placenta.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial fusion induced by Mdivi-1 and leflunomide alters cell proliferation and viability, steroidogenesis and oxidative stress in chicken ovarian cells.Poultry science · 2026Article
- Implementing Photodynamic Therapy to Activate the IFN-1 Pathway in Melanoma Cells: A Protocol for Inducing Immunogenic Cell Death and Enhancing Dendritic Cell Maturation.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Environmental light deprivation disrupts Leydig cell maturation and male reproductive development in rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Mitochondrial FIS1 level in cumulus cells correlates with morphological grades of human cleavage-stage embryos.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2025Article
- Endometrial Aging and Reproductive Decline: The Central Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Molecular characterization of the murine Leydig cell lines TM3 and MLTC-1.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Age-related testosterone decline: mechanisms and intervention strategies.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2024Review
- Microenvironment of spermatogonial stem cells: a key factor in the regulation of spermatogenesis.Stem cell research & therapy · 2024Review
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- Towards a Unitary Hypothesis of Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2024Article
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- ER-mitochondria contacts and cholesterol metabolism are disrupted by disease-associated tau protein.EMBO reports · 2023Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although the contribution of mitochondrial dynamics (a balance in fusion/fission events and changes in mitochondria subcellular distribution) to key biological process has been reported, the contribution of changes in mitochondrial fusion to achieve efficient steroid production has never been explored. The mitochondria are central during steroid synthesis and different enzymes are localized between the mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum to produce the final steroid hormone, thus suggesting that mitochondrial fusion might be relevant for this process. In the present study, we showed that the hormonal stimulation triggers mitochondrial fusion into tubular-shaped structures and we demonstrated that mitochondrial fusion does not only correlate-with but also is an essential step of steroid production, being both events depend on PKA activity. We also demonstrated that the hormone-stimulated relocalization of ERK1/2 in the mitochondrion, a critical step during steroidogenesis, depends on mitochondrial fusion. Additionally, we showed that the SHP2 phosphatase, which is required for full steroidogenesis, simultaneously modulates mitochondrial fusion and ERK1/2 localization in the mitochondrion. Strikingly, we found that mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) expression, a central protein for mitochondrial fusion, is upregulated immediately after hormone stimulation. Moreover, Mfn2 knockdown is sufficient to impair steroid biosynthesis. Together, our findings unveil an essential role for mitochondrial fusion during steroidogenesis. These discoveries highlight the importance of organelles' reorganization in specialized cells, prompting the exploration of the impact that organelle dynamics has on biological processes that include, but are not limited to, steroid synthesis.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.