Mitochondria are home to many cellular processes, including oxidative phosphorylation and
fatty acid metabolism, and in
steroid-synthesizing cells, they are involved in
cholesterol import and metabolism, which is the initiating step in steroidogenesis. The formation of
macromolecular protein complexes aids in the regulation and efficiency of these mitochondrial functions, though because of their dynamic nature, they are hard to identify. To overcome this problem, we used Blue-Native PAGE with whole-gel mass spectrometry on isolated mitochondria from control and
hormone-treated MA-10 mouse
tumor Leydig cells. The presence of multiple
mitochondrial protein complexes was shown. Although these were qualitatively similar under control and
human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-stimulated conditions, quantitative differences in the components of the complexes emerged after hCG treatment. A prominent decrease was observed with
proteins involved in
fatty acid import into the mitochondria, implying that mitochondrial beta-oxidation is not essential for steroidogenesis. To confirm this observation, we inhibited
fatty acid import utilizing the CPT1a inhibitor
etomoxir, resulting in increased
steroid production. Conversely, stimulation of mitochondrial beta-oxidation with
metformin resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in steroidogenesis. These changes were accompanied by changes in mitochondrial respiration and in the
lactic acid formed during glycolysis. Taken together, these results suggest that upon hormonal stimulation, mitochondria efficiently import
cholesterol for
steroid production at the expense of other
lipids necessary for energy production, specifically
fatty acids required for beta-oxidation.