CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Mitochondrial dynamics in acute pancreatitis V. Vanasco; D. Grasso; A. Ropolo; S. Alvarez; MI Vaccaro. Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (CONICET), School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Autophagy is an early protective mechanism during acute pancreatitis (AP), and specific types of selective autophagy, such as zymophagy, are early activated in acinar cells as a protective mechanism. Autophagy is energy consuming and adequate mitochondrial bioenergetics would be indispensable to sustain autophagy early during disease. We analyze the mitochondrial dynamics and function early during experimental AP. Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with i.p.50mg/kg caerulein (CAE) at 1h intervals. Zymophagy is confirmed by VMP1, P62 and LC3 expression. OPA1 (fusion protein) and DRP1 (fission protein) suggest mitochondrial elongation during experimental AP. Both, OPA1 and DRP1 expression disappear after 1h of pancreatitis. However, OPA1 recovers in a time course towards 48h AP. Moreover, mitochondrial function is decreased early during experimental AP. Mitochondrial O2 consumption and ATP production decrease in 35 and 70% respectively after 1h (p