CREG1 improves the capacity of the skeletal muscle response to exercise endurance via modulation of mitophagy

CREG1 (cellular repressor of E1A-stimulated genes 1) is involved in tissue homeostasis and influences macroautophagy/autophagy to protect cardiovascular function. However, the physiological and pathological role of CREG1 in the skeletal muscle is not clear. Here, we established a skeletal muscle-specific <i>creg1</i> knockout mouse model (<i>creg1;Ckm-Cre</i>) by crossing the <i>Creg1</i>-floxed mice (<i>Creg1^fl/fl</i>) with a transgenic line expressing <i>Cre</i> recombinase under the muscle-specific <i>Ckm</i> (creatine kinase, muscle) promoter. In <i>creg1;Ckm-Cre</i> mice, the exercise time to exhaustion and running distance were significantly reduced compared to <i>Creg1^fl/fl</i> mice at the age of 9 months. In addition, the administration of recombinant (re)CREG1 protein improved the motor function of 9-month-old <i>creg1;Ckm-Cre</i> mice. Moreover, electron microscopy images of 9-month-old <i>creg1;Ckm-Cre</i> mice showed that the mitochondrial quality and quantity were abnormal and associated with increased levels of PINK1 (PTEN induced putative kinase 1) and PRKN/PARKIN (parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase) but reduced levels of the mitochondrial proteins PTGS2/COX2, COX4I1/COX4, and TOMM20. These results suggested that CREG1 deficiency accelerated the induction of mitophagy in the skeletal muscle. Mechanistically, gain-and loss-of-function mutations of <i>Creg1</i> altered mitochondrial morphology and function, impairing mitophagy in C2C12 cells. Furthermore, HSPD1/HSP60 (heat shock protein 1) (401–573 aa) interacted with CREG1 (130–220 aa) to antagonize the degradation of CREG1 and was involved in the regulation of mitophagy. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time to demonstrate that CREG1 localized to the mitochondria and played an important role in mitophagy modulation that determined skeletal muscle wasting during the growth process or disease conditions.