Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that continuously divide and fuse, and their dynamics/distribution is critical for their role in bioenergetics and cell survival. Mitochondrial fusion process is mediated by mitofusin 1 (MFN1) and mitofusin 2 (MFN2) proteins in the outer membrane as well as OPA1 in the inner mitochondrial membrane. MFN1 is an essential transmembrane GTPase critical to mitochondrial fusion; acts independently of the cytoskeleton, and its overexpression induces formation of mitochondrial networks. MFN1 forms homo-/-heteromultimers (with MFN2), and the multimerization has been proposed to be essential for mitochondrion fusion. MFN1 interacts with VAT1 and is ubiquitinated by MARCH5. A mutation in the GTPase domain disrupts the mitochondrial fusion activity of MFN1/MFN2 and loss of MFN1/2 leads to mitochondrial dysfunction mediated embryonic lethality in mice. MFN proteins have been reported to regulate mitochondrial membrane potential, while silencing of MFN1/2 resulte in mitochondrial fragmentation and increased apoptotic sensitivity.
Synonyms
hfzo1; hfzo2
Note
This MFN1 antibody is useful for Immunocytochemistry/Immunofluorescence, and IHC-P. Prior to immunostaining paraffin tissues, antigen retrieval with sodium citrate buffer (pH 6.0) is recommended. Western Blot was reported in scientific literature.