
P034  Effects of a tripeptidyl peptidase-1 deciency on the  
mitochondrial population of human broblasts
Guillaume VAN BEERSEL(1) Stéphane DEMINE(1) 
Isabelle HAMER(2) Michel JADOT(2) and  
Thierry ARNOULD(1)
(1) URBC, Unité de Recherche en Biochimie Cellulaire, 
Faculty of Sciences (2) URPhyM, Unité de Recherche 
en Physiologie Moléculaire, Laboratoire de Chimie 
Physiologique, Faculty of Medicine, Facultés Universitaires 
Notre-Dame de la Paix, Rue de Bruxelles, 61, 5000 Namur, 
Belgium
 
Late Infantile Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (LINCL) is a neurodegen-
erative disorder resulting from a deciency of the tripeptidyl 
peptidase-1 (TPP-1) leading to an accumulation of autouores-
cent ceroid lipopigment enclosed within lysosomal structures. 
Knowledge about the molecular mechanisms leading to the 
numerous pathophysiological consequences of LINCL and cell 
responses to this lysosomal storage disorder remain largely 
unknown, but they might affect the function of other organelles 
such as ER and mitochondria.
In this study, we investigated the putative effects of the TPP-1 
deciency on the mitochondrial population of human broblasts. 
We show that neither the abundance of mitochondria nor the 
mitochondrial membrane potential is modied in TPP-1 decient 
cells. However, the morphology of this organelle is changed as 
the mitochondrial network seems to be more fragmented. This 
could be explained by the increase in the mitochondrial transloca-
tion of DRP-1 (Dynamin Related Protein-1). This fragmentation is 
accompanied by a decrease in the mitochondrial calcium buffering 
capacity in response to an increase in cytosolic calcium concen-
tration.