Mitochondrial Ca2+ Influx via MCU-1 Contributes to Oxidative Mitochondrial Defects in PDR-1/Parkin-Deficient Caenorhabditis elegans Body-Wall Muscle

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is widely regarded as a disorder of dopaminergic neurons that involves mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired mitophagy, and oxidative stress. However, the nature and significance of skeletal muscle pathology remain unclear. In this study, we used Caenorhabditis elegans, which lack muscle stem cells in adulthood, to examine the effects of PDR-1/Parkin deficiency on mitochondrial homeostasis and motor function under conditions where muscle regeneration does not occur. Silencing of pdr-1 attenuated age-related mitochondrial fragmentation in body-wall muscle cells but was associated with later impairments in locomotor activity and loss of nuclear GFP signals, suggesting progressive muscle cell damage. By day 2 of adulthood, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) levels were elevated in muscle cells subjected to pdr-1 RNAi, and in the pdr-1(gk448) mutant this mtROS elevation was accompanied by a reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). In vivo imaging further revealed elevated mitochondrial Ca2+ levels ([Ca2+]mito) in PDR-1-deficient muscle cells. Moreover, the mtROS increase associated with PDR-1 deficiency was suppressed in mcu-1 mutants. These findings support a model in which MCU-1-dependent elevation of [Ca2+]mito contributes to oxidative mitochondrial defects in PDR-1/Parkin-deficient muscle.