An Intrinsically Disordered Protein Region Encoded by the Human Disease Gene Regulates Mitophagy

CLEC16A regulates mitochondrial health through mitophagy and is associated with over 20 human diseases. However, the key structural and functional regions of CLEC16A, and their relevance for human disease, remain unknown. Here, we report that a disease-associated CLEC16A variant lacks a C-terminal intrinsically disordered protein region (IDPR) that is critical for mitochondrial quality control. IDPRs comprise nearly half of the human proteome, yet their mechanistic roles in human disease are poorly understood. Using carbon detect NMR, we find that the CLEC16A C terminus lacks secondary structure, validating the presence of an IDPR. Loss of the CLEC16A C-terminal IDPR impairs mitophagy, mitochondrial function, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, ultimately causing glucose intolerance. Deletion of the CLEC16A C-terminal IDPR increases CLEC16A ubiquitination and degradation, thus impairing assembly of the mitophagy regulatory machinery. Importantly, CLEC16A stability is dependent on proline bias within the C-terminal IDPR, but not amino acid sequence order or charge. Together, we elucidate how an IDPR in CLEC16A regulates mitophagy and implicate pathogenic human gene variants that disrupt IDPRs as novel contributors to diabetes and other CLEC16A-associated diseases. CAS: carbon-detect amino-acid specific; IDPR: intrinsically disordered protein region; MEFs: mouse embryonic fibroblasts; NMR: nuclear magnetic resonance.