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Updated: Dec 8, 2025

Analyses of Mitochondrial Calcium Influx in Isolated Mitochondria and Cultured Cells
Published on: April 27, 2018
Metabolite regulation of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter channel
Dhanendra Tomar1, John W Elrod1
1Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA.
Abstract:
Calcium (Ca2+) is known to stimulate mitochondrial bioenergetics through the modulation of TCA cycle dehydrogenases and electron transport chain (ETC) complexes. This is hypothesized to be an essential pathway of energetic control to meet cellular ATP demand. While regulatory mechanisms of mitochondrial calcium uptake have been reported, it remains unknown if metabolite flux itself feedsback to regulate mitochondrial calcium (mCa2+) uptake. This hypothesis was recently tested by Nemani et al. (Sci. Signal. 2020) where the authors report that TCA cycle substrate flux regulates the mitochondrial calcium uniporter channel gatekeeper, mitochondrial calcium uptake 1 (MICU1), gene transcription in an early growth response protein 1 (EGR1) dependent fashion. They posit this is a regulatory feedback mechanism to control ionic homeostasis and mitochondrial bioenergetics with changing fuel availability. Here, we provide a historical overview of mitochondrial calcium exchange and comprehensive appraisal of these results in the context of recent literature and discuss possible regulatory pathways of mCa2+ uptake and mitochondrial bioenergetics.
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