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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Membrane Traffic and Organelle Dynamics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1498902
This article is part of the Research Topic Molecular Mechanism of Polarized Transport in Cell Polarity View all 7 articles
Rab11b is necessary for mitochondrial integrity and function in gut epithelial cells
Provisionally accepted
Ivor Joseph 1
Jared Bianchi-Smak 1 Jiaxing Yang 1 Juan Flores 1 Jiangmeng Han 1
James R. Goldenring 2 Edward M Bonder 1
Nan Gao 1,3*- 1 Department of Biological Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, Newark, New Jersey, United States
- 2 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
- 3 Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey, United States
The RAB11 family of small GTPases are intracellular regulators of membrane and vesicular trafficking. We recently reported that RAB11A and RAB11B redundantly regulate spindle dynamics in dividing gut epithelial cells. However, in contrast to the well-studied RAB11A functions in transporting proteins and lipids through recycling endosomes, the distinct function of RAB11B is less clear. Our proteomic analysis of RAB11A or RAB11B interactome suggested a potential RAB11B specific involvement in regulating mitochondrial functions.Transcriptomic analysis of Rab11b knockout mouse intestines revealed an enhanced mitochondrial protein targeting program with an altered mitochondrial functional integrity. Flow cytometry assessment of mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species production revealed an impaired mitochondrial function in vivo. Electron microscopic analysis demonstrated a particularly severe mitochondrial membrane defect in Paneth cells. These genetic and functional data link RAB11B to mitochondrial structural and functional maintenance for the first time.
Keywords: Rab11, Mitochondria, Paneth cell, Proteomics, intestine
Received: 19 Sep 2024; Accepted: 04 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Joseph, Bianchi-Smak, Yang, Flores, Han, Goldenring, Bonder and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Nan Gao, Department of Biological Sciences, School of Arts & Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, Newark, NJ 07102, New Jersey, United States
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