MPC1 is essential for PGC-1α-induced mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis.

Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), which is essential for mitochondrial pyruvate usage, mediates the transport of cytosolic pyruvate into mitochondria. Low MPC expression is associated with various cancers, and functionally associated with glycolytic metabolism and stemness. However, the mechanism by which MPC expression is regulated is largely unknown. In this study, we showed that MPC1 is down-regulated in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) due to strong suppression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma co-activator (PGC)-1 alpha (PGC-1α). We also demonstrated that overexpression of PGC-1α stimulates transcription, while depletion of PGC-1α by siRNA suppresses MPC expression. We found that PGC-1α interacts with estrogen-related receptor-alpha (ERR-α) and recruits it to the ERR-α response element motif located in the proximal promoter, resulting in efficient activation of expression. Furthermore, the MPC inhibitor, UK5099, blocked PGC-1α-induced pyruvate-dependent mitochondrial oxygen consumption. Taken together, our results suggest that is a novel target gene of PGC-1α. In addition, low expression of PGC-1α in human RCC might contribute to the reduced expression of MPC, resulting in impaired mitochondrial respiratory capacity in RCC by limiting the transport of pyruvate into the mitochondrial matrix.