Paradoxical neuronal hyperexcitability in a mouse model of mitochondrial pyruvate import deficiency

Abstract

Neuronal excitation imposes a high demand of ATP in neurons. Most of the ATP derives primarily from pyruvate-mediated oxidative phosphorylation, a process that relies on import of pyruvate into mitochondria occuring exclusively via the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC). To investigate whether deficient oxidative phosphorylation impacts neuron excitability, we generated a mouse strain carrying a conditional deletion of MPC1, an essential subunit of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, specifically in adult glutamatergic neurons. We found that, despite decreased levels of oxidative phosphorylation in these excitatory neurons, mice were normal at rest. Paradoxically, in response to mild inhibition of GABA mediated synaptic activity, they rapidly developed severe seizures and died, whereas under similar conditions the behaviour of control mice remained unchanged. We show that neurons with a deficient MPC are intrinsically hyperexcitable as a consequence of impaired calcium homeostasis, which reduces M-type potassium channel activity. Provision of ketone bodies restores energy status, calcium homeostasis and M-channel activity and attenuates seizures in animals fed a ketogenic diet. Our results provide an explanation for the paradoxical seizures that frequently accompany a large number of neuropathologies, including cerebral ischemia and diverse mitochondriopathies, in which neurons experience an energy deficit. One Sentence SummaryDecreased OXPHOS and Ca2+-mediated neuronal hyperexcitability lead to seizure in a mouse model of mitochondrial pyruvate import deficiency.