High cyclophilin D content of synaptic mitochondria results in increased vulnerability to permeability transition

Mitochondria isolated from synaptosomes are more sensitive to Ca ²⁺ overload and the resultant opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) than nonsynaptic mitochondria. To identify the mechanisms underlying these differences in Ca²⁺ dynamics, we examined relative levels of mPTP components in synaptic versus nonsynaptic mitochondria. Synaptic mitochondria had higher levels of cyclophilin D when compared with nonsynaptic mitochondria, whereas levels of the voltage-dependent anion channel and the adenine nucleotide translocase were similar in the two mitochondrial fractions. These differences in Ca²⁺ handling between synaptic and nonsynaptic mitochondria were greatly reduced in cyclophilin D null [Ppif^-/- (peptidylprolyl isomerase F)] mice. Higher concentrations of cyclosporine A, which interacts with cyclophilin D to delay mPTP opening, were necessary to increase the Ca²⁺ uptake capacity of synaptic versus nonsynaptic mitochondria. To determine whether the differences in Ca ²⁺ handling might reflect the relative abundance of neuronal and glial mitochondria in the two mitochondrial fractions, we compared cyclophilin D levels in primary cortical neurons and astrocytes. Primary rat cortical neurons possess higher cyclophilin D levels than do primary astrocytes. In the adult rat brain, cyclophilin D immunoreactivity was abundant in neurons but sparse in astrocytes. Together, these results demonstrate that the Ca²⁺ handling differences observed in synaptic versus nonsynaptic mitochondria are primarily the result of the high levels of cyclophilin D in synaptic mitochondria, reflecting the greater proportion of neuronal mitochondria in this fraction. The high levels of cyclophilin D in neuronal mitochondria result in their greater vulnerability to mPT and in higher levels of cyclosporine A being required to inhibit mPTP opening.