Interaction between mitoNEET and NAF-1 in cancer cells

The NEET proteins mitoNEET (mNT) and nutrient-deprivation autophagy factor-1 (NAF-1) are required for cancer cell proliferation and resistance to oxidative stress. MitoNEET and NAF-1 are also implicated in a number of other human pathologies including diabetes, neurodegeneration and heart disease, as well as in development, differentiation and aging. Previous studies suggested that mNT and NAF-1 could function in the same pathway in cancer cells, preventing the over-accumulation of iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria. Nevertheless, it is unknown whether these two proteins interact in cells, and how they mediate their function. Here we demonstrate, using yeast two-hybrid, in vivo bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC), direct coupling analysis (DCA), RNA- sequencing, ROS and iron imaging, and single and double shRNA lines with suppressed mNT, NAF-1 and mNT/NAF-1 expression, that mNT and NAF-1 interact in cancer cells and function in the same cellular pathway. We further show using an in vitro cluster transfer assay that mNT can transfer its clusters to NAF-1. Our study suggests that mNT and NAF-1 could function as part of an iron-sulfur (2Fe-2S) cluster relay to maintain the levels of iron and Fe-S clusters under control in the mitochondria of cancer cells, thereby preventing the activation of apoptosis and/or autophagy and thus promoting rapid cellular proliferation.