Mitochondrial ferritin suppresses MPTP-induced cell damage by regulating iron metabolism and attenuating oxidative stress

• Mitochondrial ferritin inhibited the neuro-damage induced by MPTP.
• Mitochondrial ferritin decreased the ROS production in PD model induced by MPTP.
• Mitochondrial ferritin regulated the iron metabolism disorder induced by MPTP.
• Mitochondrial ferritin may be developed as a therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease.

Our previous work showed that mitochondrial ferritin (MtFt) played an important role in preventing neuronal damage in 6-OHDA–induced Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the role of MtFt in a PD model induced by MPTP is not clear. Here, we found that methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetra-pyridine (MPTP) significantly upregulated MtFt in the mouse hippocampus, substantia nigra (SN) and striatum. To explore the effect of MtFt upregulation on the MPTP-mediated injury to neural cells, MtFt-/- mice and MtFt-overexpressing cells were used to construct models of PD induced by MPTP. Our results showed that MPTP dramatically downregulated expression of transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) and tyrosine hydroxylase and upregulated L-ferritin expression in the mouse striatum and SN. Interestingly, MPTP induced high levels of MtFt in these tissues, indicating that MtFt was involved in iron metabolism and influenced dopamine synthesis induced by MPTP. Meanwhile, the Bcl2/Bax ratio was decreased significantly by MPTP in the striatum and SN of MtFt knockout (MtFt-/-) mice compared with controls. Overexpression of MtFt increased TfR1 and decreased ferroportin 1 induced by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ions (MPP+). MtFt strongly inhibited mitochondrial damage through maintaining the mitochondrial membrane potential and protecting the integrity of the mitochondrial membrane. It also suppressed the increase of the labile iron pool, decreased production of reactive oxygen species and dramatically rescued the apoptosis induced by MPP+. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that MtFt plays an important role in preventing neuronal damage in the MPTP-induced parkinsonian phenotype by inhibiting cellular iron accumulation and subsequent oxidative stress.