BNIP3-dependent mitophagy promotes cytosolic localization of LC3B and metabolic homeostasis in the liver

Mitophagy formed the basis of the original description of autophagy by Christian de Duve when he demonstrated that GCG (glucagon) induced macroautophagic/autophagic turnover of mitochondria in the liver. However, the molecular basis of liver-specific activation of mitophagy by GCG, or its significance for metabolic stress responses in the liver is not understood. Here we show that BNIP3 is required for GCG-induced mitophagy in the liver through interaction with processed LC3B; an interaction that is also necessary to localize LC3B out of the nucleus to cytosolic mitophagosomes in response to nutrient deprivation. Loss of BNIP3-dependent mitophagy caused excess mitochondria to accumulate in the liver, disrupting metabolic zonation within the liver parenchyma, with expansion of zone 1 metabolism at the expense of zone 3 metabolism. These results identify BNIP3 as a regulator of metabolic homeostasis in the liver through its effect on mitophagy and mitochondrial mass distribution.