Deletion of the Mitochondrial Chaperone TRAP-1 Uncovers Global Reprogramming of Metabolic Networks

• TRAP-1 knockout mice have reduced age-associated pathologies
• Loss of TRAP-1 upregulates oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis transcriptomes
• TRAP-1-deleted cells have deregulated mitochondrial respiration and enhanced glycolysis
• TRAP-1 deletion induces oxidative stress, DNA damage, and reduced cell proliferation

SummaryReprogramming of metabolic pathways contributes to human disease, especially cancer, but the regulators of this process are unknown. Here, we have generated a mouse knockout for the mitochondrial chaperone TRAP-1, a regulator of bioenergetics in tumors. TRAP-1−/− mice are viable and showed reduced incidence of age-associated pathologies, including obesity, inflammatory tissue degeneration, dysplasia, and spontaneous tumor formation. This was accompanied by global upregulation of oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis transcriptomes, causing deregulated mitochondrial respiration, oxidative stress, impaired cell proliferation, and a switch to glycolytic metabolism in vivo. These data identify TRAP-1 as a central regulator of mitochondrial bioenergetics, and this pathway could contribute to metabolic rewiring in tumors.

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