AMP-Activated Protein Kinase α2 Deficiency Affects Cardiac Cardiolipin Homeostasis and Mitochondrial Function

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in controlling energy homeostasis and is envisioned as a promising target to treat metabolic disorders. In the heart, AMPK is involved in short-term regulation and in transcriptional control of proteins involved in energy metabolism. Here, we investigated whether deletion of AMPKα2, the main cardiac catalytic isoform, alters mitochondrial function and biogenesis. Body weight, heart weight and AMPKα1 expression were similar in control littermate and AMPKa2−/− mice. Despite normal oxygen consumption in perfused hearts, maximal oxidative capacity, measured using saponin permeabilized cardiac fibers, was ≈30 % lower in AMPKa2−/− mice with octanoate, pyruvate or glutamate+malate but not with succinate as substrates, showing an impairment at complex-I of the respiratory chain. This effect was associated with a 25% decrease in mitochondrial cardiolipin content, the main mitochondrial membrane phospholipid that is crucial for complex-I activity, and by a 13% decrease in mitochondrial content of linoleic acid, the main fatty acid of cardiolipins. The decrease in cardiolipin content could be explained by mRNA down-regulation of rate limiting enzymes of both cardiolipin synthesis (CDS2) and remodeling (ALCAT1). These data reveal a new role for AMPKα2 subunit in the regulation of cardiac muscle oxidative capacity via cardiolipin homeostasis.