Research Progress of Structure, Function and Mechanism of Action of Mitofusin 2 in Liver Diseases

Abstract

The liver is the largest metabolic organ in the human body, and impaired liver function can lead to a variety of acute and chronic liver diseases, which can affect the quality of life in mild cases or be life-threatening in severe cases. Therefore, it is important to explore accurate and effective molecular diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets. Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) is a transmembrane motor protein on the outer membrane of mitochondria, and plays an important role not only in mitochondrial fusion regulation, but also in cell energy metabolism, cell apoptosis, cell proliferation, mitochondrial endoplasmic reticulum (ER) connections, ER stress and mitochondrial autophagy, etc. It has been found that abnormal expression or function loss of Mfn2 can lead to abnormal mitochondrial function, which in turn leads to a variety of liver diseases. In this paper, a systematic review of the structure and function of Mfn2 and its mechanisms of action in liver diseases was conducted and found that Mfn2 can be involved in the development of chronic liver diseases through multiple pathways, and improve liver function through modulating Mfn2 overexpression to further slow down and reverse disease progression. This paper aims to provide a scientific reference for basic research of Mfn2 and liver diseases, as well as its clinical application.

Keywords

• mitochondrial dynamics|mitochondrial fusion 2|structure|function|liver disease|review