bims-camemi Biomed News
on Mitochondrial metabolism in cancer
Issue of 2019–07–07
fifty-one papers selected by
Christian Frezza, , University of Cambridge, MRC Cancer Unit
  1. Regulation of nuclear epigenome by mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy.
  2. Nitric Oxide Modulates Metabolic Remodeling in Inflammatory Macrophages through TCA Cycle Regulation and Itaconate Accumulation.
  3. Epstein-Barr-Virus-Induced One-Carbon Metabolism Drives B Cell Transformation.
  4. An ErbB2/c-Src axis links bioenergetics with PRC2 translation to drive epigenetic reprogramming and mammary tumorigenesis.
  5. Ammonia sensitive SLC4A11 mitochondrial uncoupling reduces glutamine induced oxidative stress.
  6. Metabolism of Stem and Progenitor Cells: Proper Methods to Answer Specific Questions.
  7. mTORC1 to AMPK switching underlies β-cell metabolic plasticity during maturation and diabetes.
  8. Dynamic of mitochondrial network, cristae, and mitochondrial nucleoids in pancreatic β-cells.
  9. The enigma of an interconnected mitochondrial reticulum: new insights into mitochondrial fusion.
  10. Metabolite Exchange between Mammalian Organs Quantified in Pigs.
  11. EGFR-Pak Signaling Selectively Regulates Glutamine Deprivation-Induced Macropinocytosis.
  12. Can Galactose Be Converted To Glucose In HepG2 Cells? - Improving the in vitro Mitochondrial Toxicity Assay for the Assessment of Drug Induced Liver Injury.
  13. PGC-1α regulates mitochondrial properties beyond biogenesis with aging and exercise training.
  14. What Defines NK Cell Functional Fate: Phenotype or Metabolism?
  15. ATF4 couples MYC-dependent translational activity to bioenergetic demands during tumour progression.
  16. Fueling the fire: emerging role of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway in cancer.
  17. Potential Mechanisms Driving Mitochondrial Motility Impairments in Developing Iron-Deficient Neurons.
  18. Blood Vessel Proximity Shapes Cancer Cell Metabolism.
  19. Actin(g) on mitochondria - a role for cofilin1 in neuronal cell death pathways.
  20. Oncogenic Kras induces Nix-mediated mitophagy to promote pancreatic cancer.
  21. NSUN2 introduces 5-methylcytosines in mammalian mitochondrial tRNAs.
  22. Deregulating mitochondrial metabolite and ion transport has beneficial effects in yeast and human cellular models for NARP syndrome.
  23. NIPSNAP1 and NIPSNAP2 act as "eat me" signals to allow sustained recruitment of autophagy receptors during mitophagy.
  24. The Novel Cyclophilin-D Interacting Protein FASTKD1 Protects Cells Against Oxidative Stress-Induced Death.
  25. Dysfunctional MDR-1 disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis in the oocyte and ovary.
  26. SULT4A1 Protects Against Oxidative-Stress Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction.
  27. Cell type-dependent differential activation of ERK by oncogenic KRAS in colon cancer and intestinal epithelium.
  28. GRK2 regulates mitochondrial bioenergetics and impairs myostatin-mediated autophagy in muscle cells.
  29. Reprogramming of Amino Acid Transporters to Support Aspartate and Glutamate Dependency Sustains Endocrine Resistance in Breast Cancer.
  30. PGC-1a integrates a metabolism and growth network linked to caloric restriction.
  31. A tRNA modification balances carbon and nitrogen metabolism by regulating phosphate homeostasis.
  32. Mitochondrial Network State Scales mtDNA Genetic Dynamics.
  33. Mitochondria as central hub of the immune system.
  34. Mitochondrial respirasome works as a single unit and the cross-talk between complexes I, III2 and IV stimulates NADH dehydrogenase activity.
  35. A Therapeutic Role for the F1FO-ATP Synthase.
  36. Mitochondrial cristae narrowing upon higher 2-oxoglutarate load.
  37. Nrf2 Activation Promotes Lung Cancer Metastasis by Inhibiting the Degradation of Bach1.
  38. A Physiological Function for Ferroptosis in Tumor Suppression by the Immune System.
  39. Nutrient availability shapes methionine metabolism in p16/MTAP-deleted cells.
  40. Quiescence: Good and Bad of Stem Cell Aging.
  41. Metabolic signal curbs cancer-cell migration.
  42. The Homeobox gene, HOXB13, Regulates a Mitotic Protein-Kinase Interaction Network in Metastatic Prostate Cancers.
  43. Genomic imprinting and its effects on postnatal growth and adult metabolism.
  44. Transcriptional regulation of human cyclic GMP-AMP synthase gene.
  45. Comprehensive Metabolomic Analysis of IDH1R132H Clinical Glioma Samples Reveals Suppression of β-oxidation Due to Carnitine Deficiency.
  46. Macrophages and Metabolism in the Tumor Microenvironment.
  47. Studying metabolic flux adaptations in cancer through integrated experimental-computational approaches.
  48. DNA double-strand break repair-pathway choice in somatic mammalian cells.
  49. Fractionated mitochondrial magnetic separation for isolation of synaptic mitochondria from brain tissue.
  50. HNRNPA1-mediated 3' UTR length changes of HN1 contributes to cancer- and senescence-associated phenotypes.
  51. BACH1 Stabilization by Antioxidants Stimulates Lung Cancer Metastasis.
  1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jun 28. pii: 201906896. [Epub ahead of print]
    Regulation of nuclear epigenome by mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy.
    Piotr K Kopinski, Kevin A Janssen, Patrick M Schaefer, Sophie Trefely, Caroline E Perry, Prasanth Potluri, Jesus A Tintos-Hernandez, Larry N Singh, Kelly R Karch, Sydney L Campbell, Mary T Doan, Helen Jiang, Itzhak Nissim, Eiko Nakamaru-Ogiso, Kathryn E Wellen, Nathaniel W Snyder, Benjamin A Garcia, Douglas C Wallace.
      Diseases associated with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are highly variable in phenotype, in large part because of differences in the percentage of normal and mutant mtDNAs (heteroplasmy) present within the cell. For example, increasing heteroplasmy levels of the mtDNA tRNALeu(UUR) nucleotide (nt) 3243A > G mutation result successively in diabetes, neuromuscular degenerative disease, and perinatal lethality. These phenotypes are associated with differences in mitochondrial function and nuclear DNA (nDNA) gene expression, which are recapitulated in cybrid cell lines with different percentages of m.3243G mutant mtDNAs. Using metabolic tracing, histone mass spectrometry, and NADH fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy in these cells, we now show that increasing levels of this single mtDNA mutation cause profound changes in the nuclear epigenome. At high heteroplasmy, mitochondrially derived acetyl-CoA levels decrease causing decreased histone H4 acetylation, with glutamine-derived acetyl-CoA compensating when glucose-derived acetyl-CoA is limiting. In contrast, α-ketoglutarate levels increase at midlevel heteroplasmy and are inversely correlated with histone H3 methylation. Inhibition of mitochondrial protein synthesis induces acetylation and methylation changes, and restoration of mitochondrial function reverses these effects. mtDNA heteroplasmy also affects mitochondrial NAD+/NADH ratio, which correlates with nuclear histone acetylation, whereas nuclear NAD+/NADH ratio correlates with changes in nDNA and mtDNA transcription. Thus, mutations in the mtDNA cause distinct metabolic and epigenomic changes at different heteroplasmy levels, potentially explaining transcriptional and phenotypic variability of mitochondrial disease.
    Keywords:  common diseases; epigenetics; metabolism; mitochondria; transcription
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1906896116
  2. Cell Rep. 2019 Jul 02. pii: S2211-1247(19)30784-3. [Epub ahead of print]28(1): 218-230.e7
    Nitric Oxide Modulates Metabolic Remodeling in Inflammatory Macrophages through TCA Cycle Regulation and Itaconate Accumulation.
    Jade D Bailey, Marina Diotallevi, Thomas Nicol, Eileen McNeill, Andrew Shaw, Surawee Chuaiphichai, Ashley Hale, Anna Starr, Manasi Nandi, Elena Stylianou, Helen McShane, Simon Davis, Roman Fischer, Benedikt M Kessler, James McCullagh, Keith M Channon, Mark J Crabtree.
      Classical activation of macrophages (M(LPS+IFNγ)) elicits the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), generating large amounts of NO and inhibiting mitochondrial respiration. Upregulation of glycolysis and a disrupted tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle underpin this switch to a pro-inflammatory phenotype. We show that the NOS cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) modulates IL-1β production and key aspects of metabolic remodeling in activated murine macrophages via NO production. Using two complementary genetic models, we reveal that NO modulates levels of the essential TCA cycle metabolites citrate and succinate, as well as the inflammatory mediator itaconate. Furthermore, NO regulates macrophage respiratory function via changes in the abundance of critical N-module subunits in Complex I. However, NO-deficient cells can still upregulate glycolysis despite changes in the abundance of glycolytic intermediates and proteins involved in glucose metabolism. Our findings reveal a fundamental role for iNOS-derived NO in regulating metabolic remodeling and cytokine production in the pro-inflammatory macrophage.
    Keywords:  immunometabolism; inflammation; macrophage metabolism; mitochondria; nitric oxide; tetrahydrobiopterin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.06.018
  3. Cell Metab. 2019 Jun 25. pii: S1550-4131(19)30306-7. [Epub ahead of print]
    Epstein-Barr-Virus-Induced One-Carbon Metabolism Drives B Cell Transformation.
    Liang Wei Wang, Hongying Shen, Luis Nobre, Ina Ersing, Joao A Paulo, Stephen Trudeau, Zhonghao Wang, Nicholas A Smith, Yijie Ma, Bryn Reinstadler, Jason Nomburg, Thomas Sommermann, Ellen Cahir-McFarland, Steven P Gygi, Vamsi K Mootha, Michael P Weekes, Benjamin E Gewurz.
      Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes Burkitt, Hodgkin, and post-transplant B cell lymphomas. How EBV remodels metabolic pathways to support rapid B cell outgrowth remains largely unknown. To gain insights, primary human B cells were profiled by tandem-mass-tag-based proteomics at rest and at nine time points after infection; >8,000 host and 29 viral proteins were quantified, revealing mitochondrial remodeling and induction of one-carbon (1C) metabolism. EBV-encoded EBNA2 and its target MYC were required for upregulation of the central mitochondrial 1C enzyme MTHFD2, which played key roles in EBV-driven B cell growth and survival. MTHFD2 was critical for maintaining elevated NADPH levels in infected cells, and oxidation of mitochondrial NADPH diminished B cell proliferation. Tracing studies underscored contributions of 1C to nucleotide synthesis, NADPH production, and redox defense. EBV upregulated import and synthesis of serine to augment 1C flux. Our results highlight EBV-induced 1C as a potential therapeutic target and provide a new paradigm for viral onco-metabolism.
    Keywords:  B-cell activation; de novo serine synthesis; folate; isotope tracing; metabolic remodeling; mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism; quantitative proteomics; tandem mass tag; tumor virus; virus oncoprotein
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.06.003
  4. Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 01. 10(1): 2901
    An ErbB2/c-Src axis links bioenergetics with PRC2 translation to drive epigenetic reprogramming and mammary tumorigenesis.
    Harvey W Smith, Alison Hirukawa, Virginie Sanguin-Gendreau, Ipshita Nandi, Catherine R Dufour, Dongmei Zuo, Kristofferson Tandoc, Matthew Leibovitch, Salendra Singh, Jonathan P Rennhack, Matthew Swiatnicki, Cynthia Lavoie, Vasilios Papavasiliou, Carolin Temps, Neil O Carragher, Asier Unciti-Broceta, Paul Savage, Mark Basik, Vincent van Hoef, Ola Larsson, Caroline L Cooper, Ana Cristina Vargas Calderon, Jane Beith, Ewan Millar, Christina Selinger, Vincent Giguère, Morag Park, Lyndsay N Harris, Vinay Varadan, Eran R Andrechek, Sandra A O'Toole, Ivan Topisirovic, William J Muller.
      Dysregulation of histone modifications promotes carcinogenesis by altering transcription. Breast cancers frequently overexpress the histone methyltransferase EZH2, the catalytic subunit of Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2). However, the role of EZH2 in this setting is unclear due to the context-dependent functions of PRC2 and the heterogeneity of breast cancer. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying PRC2 overexpression in cancer are obscure. Here, using multiple models of breast cancer driven by the oncogene ErbB2, we show that the tyrosine kinase c-Src links energy sufficiency with PRC2 overexpression via control of mRNA translation. By stimulating mitochondrial ATP production, c-Src suppresses energy stress, permitting sustained activation of the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), which increases the translation of mRNAs encoding the PRC2 subunits Ezh2 and Suz12. We show that Ezh2 overexpression and activity are pivotal in ErbB2-mediated mammary tumourigenesis. These results reveal the hitherto unknown c-Src/mTORC1/PRC2 axis, which is essential for ErbB2-driven carcinogenesis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10681-4
  5. Redox Biol. 2019 Jun 23. pii: S2213-2317(19)30532-4. [Epub ahead of print]26 101260
    Ammonia sensitive SLC4A11 mitochondrial uncoupling reduces glutamine induced oxidative stress.
    Diego G Ogando, Moonjung Choi, Rajalekshmy Shyam, Shimin Li, Joseph A Bonanno.
      SLC4A11 is a NH3 sensitive membrane transporter with H+ channel-like properties that facilitates Glutamine catabolism in Human and Mouse corneal endothelium (CE). Loss of SLC4A11 activity induces oxidative stress and cell death, resulting in Congenital Hereditary Endothelial Dystrophy (CHED) with corneal edema and vision loss. However, the mechanism by which SLC4A11 prevents ROS production and protects CE is unknown. Here we demonstrate that SLC4A11 is localized to the inner mitochondrial membrane of CE and SLC4A11 transfected PS120 fibroblasts, where it acts as an NH3-sensitive mitochondrial uncoupler that enhances glutamine-dependent oxygen consumption, electron transport chain activity, and ATP levels by suppressing damaging Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production. In the presence of glutamine, Slc4a11-/- (KO) mouse CE generate significantly greater mitochondrial superoxide, a greater proportion of damaged depolarized mitochondria, and more apoptotic cells than WT. KO CE can be rescued by MitoQ, reducing NH3 production by GLS1 inhibition or dimethyl αKetoglutarate supplementation, or by BAM15 mitochondrial uncoupling. Slc4a11 KO mouse corneal edema can be partially reversed by αKetoglutarate eye drops. Moreover, we demonstrate that this role for SLC4A11 is not specific to CE cells, as SLC4A11 knockdown in glutamine-addicted colon carcinoma cells reduced glutamine catabolism, increased ROS production, and inhibited cell proliferation. Overall, our studies reveal a unique metabolic mechanism that reduces mitochondrial oxidative stress while promoting glutamine catabolism.
    Keywords:  Ammonia; Glutamine; Mitochondrial uncoupling; Reactive oxygen species; Slc4a11
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2019.101260
  6. Front Mol Neurosci. 2019 ;12 151
    Metabolism of Stem and Progenitor Cells: Proper Methods to Answer Specific Questions.
    Giuseppe Martano, Elena Monica Borroni, Egesta Lopci, Maria Grazia Cattaneo, Milena Mattioli, Angela Bachi, Ilaria Decimo, Francesco Bifari.
      Stem cells can stay quiescent for a long period of time or proliferate and differentiate into multiple lineages. The activity of stage-specific metabolic programs allows stem cells to best adapt their functions in different microenvironments. Specific cellular phenotypes can be, therefore, defined by precise metabolic signatures. Notably, not only cellular metabolism describes a defined cellular phenotype, but experimental evidence now clearly indicate that also rewiring cells towards a particular cellular metabolism can drive their cellular phenotype and function accordingly. Cellular metabolism can be studied by both targeted and untargeted approaches. Targeted analyses focus on a subset of identified metabolites and on their metabolic fluxes. In addition, the overall assessment of the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) gives a measure of the overall cellular oxidative metabolism and mitochondrial function. Untargeted approach provides a large-scale identification and quantification of the whole metabolome with the aim to describe a metabolic fingerprinting. In this review article, we overview the methodologies currently available for the study of in vitro stem cell metabolism, including metabolic fluxes, fingerprint analyses, and single-cell metabolomics. Moreover, we summarize available approaches for the study of in vivo stem cell metabolism. For all of the described methods, we highlight their specificities and limitations. In addition, we discuss practical concerns about the most threatening steps, including metabolic quenching, sample preparation and extraction. A better knowledge of the precise metabolic signature defining specific cell population is instrumental to the design of novel therapeutic strategies able to drive undifferentiated stem cells towards a selective and valuable cellular phenotype.
    Keywords:  cell metabolism; cell reprogramming; indiced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs); metabolic flux analysis (MFA); metabolomics (OMICS); neural stem cell (NSC); pharmacology; stem cell
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2019.00151
  7. J Clin Invest. 2019 Jul 02. pii: 127021. [Epub ahead of print]130
    mTORC1 to AMPK switching underlies β-cell metabolic plasticity during maturation and diabetes.
    Rami Jaafar, Stella Tran, Ajit Shah, Gao Sun, Martin Valdearcos, Piero Marchetti, Matilde Masini, Avital Swisa, Simone Giacometti, Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, Aleksey Matveyenko, Matthias Hebrok, Yuval Dor, Guy A Rutter, Suneil K Koliwad, Anil Bhushan.
      Pancreatic beta cells (β-cells) differentiate during fetal life, but only postnatally acquire the capacity for glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). How this happens is not clear. In exploring what molecular mechanisms drive the maturation of β-cell function, we found that the control of cellular signaling in β-cells fundamentally switched from the nutrient sensor target of rapamycin (mTORC1) to the energy sensor 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and that this was critical for functional maturation. Moreover, AMPK was activated by the dietary transition taking place during weaning, and this in turn inhibited mTORC1 activity to drive the adult β-cell phenotype. While forcing constitutive mTORC1 signaling in adult β-cells relegated them to a functionally immature phenotype with characteristic transcriptional and metabolic profiles, engineering the switch from mTORC1 to AMPK signaling was sufficient to promote β-cell mitochondrial biogenesis, a shift to oxidative metabolism, and functional maturation. We also found that type 2 diabetes, a condition marked by both mitochondrial degeneration and dysregulated GSIS, was associated with a remarkable reversion of the normal AMPK-dependent adult β-cell signature to a more neonatal one characterized by mTORC1 activation. Manipulating the way in which cellular nutrient signaling pathways regulate β-cell metabolism may thus offer new targets to improve β-cell function in diabetes.
    Keywords:  Diabetes; Endocrinology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI127021
  8. Mitochondrion. 2019 Jun 25. pii: S1567-7249(19)30022-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    Dynamic of mitochondrial network, cristae, and mitochondrial nucleoids in pancreatic β-cells.
    Petr Ježek, Andrea Dlasková.
      Type 2 diabetes progression stems from dysfunction of β-cells, besides the peripheral insulin resistance. Mitochondria as glucose sensor and regulation center are impaired at various stages of this progression. Their biogenesis and functional impairment is reflected by altered morphology of the mitochondrial network and ultramorphology of cristae and mitochondrial DNA loci, termed nucleoids. Aspects of all above changes are reviewed here together with a brief introduction to proteins involved in mitochondrial network dynamics, cristae shaping, and mtDNA nucleoid structure and maintenance. Most frequently, pathology is reflected by the fragmentation of network, cristae inflation or absence and declining number of nucleoids.
    Keywords:  Mitochondrial cristae; Mitochondrial network; Mitochondrial nucleoids; Type 2 diabetes
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2019.06.007
  9. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2019 Jun 25. pii: S0955-0674(18)30132-7. [Epub ahead of print]59 159-166
    The enigma of an interconnected mitochondrial reticulum: new insights into mitochondrial fusion.
    Sevan Mattie, Michiel Krols, Heidi M McBride.
      It has been over 20 years since the identification of the first GTPases that regulate mitochondrial fusion in drosophila, yeast, and mammalian cells. While the molecular identification of these players solidified the new field of mitochondrial dynamics, cell imaging had established the dynamic properties of mitochondria over a century before. The genetic dissection of mitochondrial fusion, fission, and positioning within cells cemented our understanding of the essential nature of this plasticity in health and disease. Loss of either mitochondrial fusion or fission causes embryonic lethality in mice, and mutations in a number of the core fusion/fission machines were identified in patients with neurodegenerative disease. From these early studies, there has been a rapid expansion of research into mitochondrial dynamics within diverse fields of interest, in various model systems. This review will focus on recent work investigating the mechanisms of mitochondrial fusion, where new findings are challenging some longstanding assumptions. We hope to highlight some essential remaining questions and generate a framework for future studies.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2019.05.004
  10. Cell Metab. 2019 Jun 26. pii: S1550-4131(19)30305-5. [Epub ahead of print]
    Metabolite Exchange between Mammalian Organs Quantified in Pigs.
    Cholsoon Jang, Sheng Hui, Xianfeng Zeng, Alexis J Cowan, Lin Wang, Li Chen, Raphael J Morscher, Jorge Reyes, Christian Frezza, Ho Young Hwang, Akito Imai, Yoshiaki Saito, Keitaro Okamoto, Christine Vaspoli, Loewe Kasprenski, Gerald A Zsido, Joseph H Gorman, Robert C Gorman, Joshua D Rabinowitz.
      Mammalian organs continually exchange metabolites via circulation, but systems-level analysis of this shuttling process is lacking. Here, we compared, in fasted pigs, metabolite concentrations in arterial blood versus draining venous blood from 11 organs. Greater than 90% of metabolites showed arterial-venous differences across at least one organ. Surprisingly, the liver and kidneys released not only glucose but also amino acids, both of which were consumed primarily by the intestine and pancreas. The liver and kidneys exhibited additional unexpected activities: liver preferentially burned unsaturated over more atherogenic saturated fatty acids, whereas the kidneys were unique in burning circulating citrate and net oxidizing lactate to pyruvate, thereby contributing to circulating redox homeostasis. Furthermore, we observed more than 700 other cases of tissue-specific metabolite production or consumption, such as release of nucleotides by the spleen and TCA intermediates by pancreas. These data constitute a high-value resource, providing a quantitative atlas of inter-organ metabolite exchange.
    Keywords:  circulating metabolite; flux; fuel; inter-organ exchange; isotope tracing; mammalian organ-specific metabolism; metabolomics; pig; tissue; uptake and release
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.06.002
  11. Dev Cell. 2019 Jun 26. pii: S1534-5807(19)30485-X. [Epub ahead of print]
    EGFR-Pak Signaling Selectively Regulates Glutamine Deprivation-Induced Macropinocytosis.
    Szu-Wei Lee, Yijuan Zhang, Michael Jung, Nathalia Cruz, Basheer Alas, Cosimo Commisso.
      Macropinocytosis has emerged as an important nutrient-scavenging pathway that supports tumor cell fitness. By internalizing extracellular protein and targeting it for lysosomal degradation, this endocytic pathway functions as an amino acid supply route, permitting tumor cell growth and survival despite the nutrient-poor conditions of the tumor microenvironment. Here, we provide evidence that a subset of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumors are wired to integrate contextual metabolic inputs to regulate macropinocytosis, dialing up or down this uptake pathway depending on nutrient availability. We find that regional depletion of amino acids coincides with increased levels of macropinocytosis and that the scarcity of glutamine uniquely drives this process. Mechanistically, this stimulation of macropinocytosis depends on the nutrient stress-induced potentiation of epidermal growth factor receptor signaling that, through the activation of Pak, controls the extent of macropinocytosis in these cells. These results provide a mechanistic understanding of how nutritional cues can control protein scavenging in PDAC tumors.
    Keywords:  EGFR; Pak; Ras; cancer metabolism; macropinocytosis; pancreatic cancer; protein scavenging
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2019.05.043
  12. Chem Res Toxicol. 2019 Jul 04.
    Can Galactose Be Converted To Glucose In HepG2 Cells? - Improving the in vitro Mitochondrial Toxicity Assay for the Assessment of Drug Induced Liver Injury.
    Qiuwei Xu, Liping Liu, Heather Vu, Matt Kuhls, Amy G Aslamkhan, Andy Liaw, Yan Yu, Allen Kaczor, Michael Ruth, Christina Wei, John Imredy, Jose Lebron, Kara Pearson, Raymond Gonzalez, Kaushik Mitra, Frank Sistare.
      Human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, HepG2, are often used for drug mediated mitochondrial toxicity assessments. Glucose in HepG2 culture media is replaced by galactose to reveal drug-induced mitochondrial toxicity as a marked shift of drug IC50 values for the reduction of cellular ATP. It has been postulated that galactose sensitizes HepG2 mitochondria by the additional ATP consumption demand in the Leloir pathway, which describes the galactose→glucose conversion. However, our NMR metabolomics analysis of HepG2 cells and culture media showed very limited, if any, galactose metabolism. To clarify the role of galactose in HepG2 cellular metabolism, U-13C6-galactose or U-13C6-glucose was added to HepG2 culture media to help specifically track the metabolism of those two sugars. No conversion to U-13C3-lactate was detected when HepG2 cells were incubated with U-13C6-galactose, while an abundance of U-13C3-lactate was produced when HepG2 cells were incubated with U-13C6-glucose. In the absence of glucose, HepG2 cells increased glutamine consumption as a bioenergetics source. Requirement of additional glutamine matched the amount of glucose needed to maintain a steady level of cellular ATP in HepG2 cells. This improved understanding of galactose and glutamine metabolism in HepG2 cells helped optimize the ATP based mitochondrial toxicity assay. The modified assay showed 96% sensitivity and 97% specificity in correctly discriminating compounds known to cause mitochondrial toxicity from those with prior evidences of not being mitochondrial toxicants. The greatest significance of the modified assay was its improved sensitivity in detecting the inhibition of mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) when glutamine was withheld. By eliminating glutamine, the assay was able to differentially identify inhibitors of FAO and mitochondrial complex II from those of other mitochondrial complexes. Use of this improved assay for an empirical prediction of the likely contribution of mitochondrial toxicity to human DILI (drug induced liver injury) was attempted. Testing of 120 DILI positive and negative compounds representing numerous mechanisms of DILI, the overall prediction of mitochondrial mechanism-related DILI showed 25% sensitivity and 95% specificity.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00033
  13. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Jul 02.
    PGC-1α regulates mitochondrial properties beyond biogenesis with aging and exercise training.
    Jens Frey Halling, Henrik Jessen, Jacob Nøhr-Meldgaard, Bjørg Thiellesen Buch, Natascha Masselkhi Christensen, Anders Gudiksen, Stine Ringholm, P Darrell Neufer, Clara Prats, Henriette Pilegaard.
      Impaired mitochondrial function has been implicated in the pathogenesis of age-associated metabolic diseases through regulation of cellular redox balance. Exercise training is known to promote mitochondrial biogenesis in part through induction of the transcriptional co-activator PGC-1α. Recently, mitochondrial ADP sensitivity has been linked to ROS emission with potential impact on age-associated physiological outcomes, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of aging and exercise training on mitochondrial properties beyond biogenesis, including respiratory capacity, ADP sensitivity, ROS emission and mitochondrial network structure, in myofibers from inducible muscle-specific PGC-1α knockout mice and controls. Aged mice displayed lower running endurance and mitochondrial respiratory capacity than young. This was associated with intermyofibrillar mitochondrial network fragmentation, diminished submaximal ADP-stimulated respiration, increased mitochondrial ROS emission and oxidative stress. Exercise training reversed the decline in maximal respiratory capacity independent of PGC-1a, while exercise training rescued the age-related mitochondrial network fragmentation and impaired submaximal ADP-stimulated respiration in a PGC-1α dependent manner. Furthermore, lack of PGC-1α was associated with altered phosphorylation and carbonylation of the inner mitochondrial membrane ADP/ATP exchanger ANT1. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence that PGC-1α regulates submaximal ADP-stimulated respiration, ROS emission and mitochondrial network structure in mouse skeletal muscle during aging and exercise training.
    Keywords:  PGC-1α; aging; exercise; mitochondria; skeletal muscle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00059.2019
  14. Front Immunol. 2019 ;10 1414
    What Defines NK Cell Functional Fate: Phenotype or Metabolism?
    Sophie M Poznanski, Ali A Ashkar.
      NK cells are capable of an array of functions that range widely from their classic anti-tumor and anti-viral cytotoxic effector functions, to their critical regulatory roles in controlling inflammatory immune responses and promoting tissue growth. However, the mechanisms that polarize NK cells to these distinct and opposing functions are incompletely understood. NK cell functional subsets are primarily identified and studied based on phenotype, which has served as an accessible means for profiling NK cells and does offer information on NK cell activation state. However, inconsistencies have emerged in using classic phenotypes to inform function, which raise the questions: Can phenotype in fact define NK cell functional fate? What factors do profile and drive NK cell fate? In other immune cells, cell metabolism has been shown to critically determine subset polarization. There is a growing body of evidence that cell metabolism is integral to NK cell effector functions. Glucose-driven glycolysis and oxidative metabolism have been shown to drive classic NK cell anti-tumor and anti-viral effector functions. Recent studies have uncovered a critical role for metabolism in NK cell development, education, and memory generation. In this review, we will draw on the evidence to date to investigate the relationship between NK cell phenotype, metabolism, and functional fate. We explore a paradigm in which the differential activity of metabolic pathways within NK cells produce distinct metabolic fingerprints that comprehensively distinguish and drive the range of NK cell functional abilities. We will discuss future areas of study that are needed to develop and test this paradigm and suggest strategies to efficiently profile NK cells based on metabolism. Given the emerging role of metabolism in driving NK cell fates, profiling and modulating NK cell metabolism holds profound therapeutic potential to tune inflammatory and regulatory NK cell responses to treat disease.
    Keywords:  CD56; NK cell; NK cell subsets; cell metabolism; glycolysis; innate immunity; mitochondria; phenotype
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.01414
  15. Nat Cell Biol. 2019 Jul;21(7): 889-899
    ATF4 couples MYC-dependent translational activity to bioenergetic demands during tumour progression.
    Feven Tameire, Ioannis I Verginadis, Nektaria Maria Leli, Christine Polte, Crystal S Conn, Rani Ojha, Carlo Salas Salinas, Frank Chinga, Alexandra M Monroy, Weixuan Fu, Paul Wang, Andrew Kossenkov, Jiangbin Ye, Ravi K Amaravadi, Zoya Ignatova, Serge Y Fuchs, J Alan Diehl, Davide Ruggero, Constantinos Koumenis.
      The c-Myc oncogene drives malignant progression and induces robust anabolic and proliferative programmes leading to intrinsic stress. The mechanisms enabling adaptation to MYC-induced stress are not fully understood. Here we reveal an essential role for activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) in survival following MYC activation. MYC upregulates ATF4 by activating general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) kinase through uncharged transfer RNAs. Subsequently, ATF4 co-occupies promoter regions of over 30 MYC-target genes, primarily those regulating amino acid and protein synthesis, including eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), a negative regulator of translation. 4E-BP1 relieves MYC-induced proteotoxic stress and is essential to balance protein synthesis. 4E-BP1 activity is negatively regulated by mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)-dependent phosphorylation and inhibition of mTORC1 signalling rescues ATF4-deficient cells from MYC-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress. Acute deletion of ATF4 significantly delays MYC-driven tumour progression and increases survival in mouse models. Our results establish ATF4 as a cellular rheostat of MYC activity, which ensures that enhanced translation rates are compatible with survival and tumour progression.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-019-0347-9
  16. BMC Biol. 2019 Jul 04. 17(1): 52
    Fueling the fire: emerging role of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway in cancer.
    Neha M Akella, Lorela Ciraku, Mauricio J Reginato.
      Altered metabolism and deregulated cellular energetics are now considered a hallmark of all cancers. Glucose, glutamine, fatty acids, and amino acids are the primary drivers of tumor growth and act as substrates for the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP). The HBP culminates in the production of an amino sugar uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) that, along with other charged nucleotide sugars, serves as the basis for biosynthesis of glycoproteins and other glycoconjugates. These nutrient-driven post-translational modifications are highly altered in cancer and regulate protein functions in various cancer-associated processes. In this review, we discuss recent progress in understanding the mechanistic relationship between the HBP and cancer.
    Keywords:  Cancer; Glycosylation; Hexosamine biosynthetic pathway; Metabolism; O-GlcNAc transferase; O-GlcNAcylation; UDP-GlcNAc
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-019-0671-3
  17. J Exp Neurosci. 2019 ;13 1179069519858351
    Potential Mechanisms Driving Mitochondrial Motility Impairments in Developing Iron-Deficient Neurons.
    Thomas W Bastian.
      Brain development is highly demanding energetically, requiring neurons to have tightly regulated and highly dynamic metabolic machinery to achieve their ultimately complex cellular architecture. Mitochondria are the main source of neuronal adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and regulate critical neurodevelopmental processes including calcium signaling, iron homeostasis, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Metabolic perturbations during critical neurodevelopmental windows impair neurological function not only acutely during the period of rapid growth/development, but also in adulthood long after the early-life insult has been rectified. Our laboratory uses iron deficiency (ID), the most common nutrient deficiency, as a model of early-life metabolic disruptions of neuronal metabolism because iron has a central role in mitochondrial function. Recently, we published that ID reduces hippocampal neuronal dendritic mitochondrial motility and size. In this commentary, we delve deeper into speculation about potential cellular mechanisms that drive the effects of neuronal ID on mitochondrial dynamics and quality control pathways. We propose that understanding the basic cellular biology of how mitochondria respond and adapt to ID and other metabolic perturbations during brain development may be a key factor in designing strategies to reduce the risk of later-life psychiatric, cognitive, and neurodegenerative disorders associated with early-life ID.
    Keywords:  dendrite; development; energy metabolism; hippocampus; iron; mitochondria; neuron
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/1179069519858351
  18. Cell Metab. 2019 Jul 02. pii: S1550-4131(19)30314-6. [Epub ahead of print]30(1): 16-18
    Blood Vessel Proximity Shapes Cancer Cell Metabolism.
    Federico Virga, Manuel Ehling, Massimiliano Mazzone.
      Cancer cells are highly heterogeneous, and their features markedly vary within different areas of the tumor microenvironment. In this issue, Kumar et al. (2019) identified perivascular tumor cells, derived from mouse glioblastoma xenografts, as the fraction that displays the highest mTOR-dependent anabolic metabolism, aggressiveness, and resistance to therapy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.06.011
  19. Biol Chem. 2019 Jun 29. pii: /j/bchm.ahead-of-print/hsz-2019-0120/hsz-2019-0120.xml. [Epub ahead of print]
    Actin(g) on mitochondria - a role for cofilin1 in neuronal cell death pathways.
    Lena Hoffmann, Marco B Rust, Carsten Culmsee.
      Actin dynamics, the coordinated assembly and disassembly of actin filaments (F-actin), are essential for fundamental cellular processes, including cell shaping and motility, cell division or organelle transport. Recent studies highlighted a novel role for actin dynamics in the regulation of mitochondrial morphology and function, for example, through mitochondrial recruitment of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), a key factor in the mitochondrial fission machinery. Mitochondria are dynamic organelles, and permanent fission and fusion is essential to maintain their function in energy metabolism, calcium homeostasis and regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we summarize recent insights into the emerging role of cofilin1, a key regulator of actin dynamics, for mitochondrial shape and function under physiological conditions and during cellular stress, respectively. This is of peculiar importance in neurons, which are particularly prone to changes in actin regulation and mitochondrial integrity and function. In neurons, cofilin1 may contribute to degenerative processes through formation of cofilin-actin rods, and through enhanced mitochondrial fission, mitochondrial membrane permeabilization, and the release of cytochrome c. Overall, mitochondrial impairment induced by dysfunction of actin-regulating proteins such as cofilin1 emerge as important mechanisms of neuronal death with relevance to acute brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease.
    Keywords:  ADF/cofilin; mitochondrial dynamics; neurodegeneration; redox balance; stroke
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2019-0120
  20. Cancer Discov. 2019 Jul 01. pii: CD-18-1409. [Epub ahead of print]
    Oncogenic Kras induces Nix-mediated mitophagy to promote pancreatic cancer.
    Timothy J Humpton, Brinda Alagesan, Gina M DeNicola, Dan Lu, Georgi N Yordanov, Carl S Leonhardt, Melissa A Yao, Priya Alagesan, Maya N Zaatari, Youngkyu Park, Jeremy N Skepper, Kay F Macleod, Pedro A Perez-Mancera, Michael P Murphy, Gerard I Evan, Karen H Vousden, David A Tuveson.
      Activating KRAS mutations are found in nearly all cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), yet effective clinical targeting of oncogenic KRAS remains elusive. Understanding of KRAS-dependent PDAC-promoting pathways could lead to the identification of vulnerabilities and the development of new treatments. We show that oncogenic KRAS induces BNIP3L/NIX expression and a selective mitophagy program that restricts glucose flux to the mitochondria and enhances redox capacity. Loss of Nix restores functional mitochondria to cells, increasing demands for NADPH reducing power and decreasing proliferation in glucose-limited conditions. Nix deletion markedly delays progression of pancreatic cancer and improves survival in a murine (KPC) model of PDAC. While conditional Nix ablation in vivo initially results in the accumulation of mitochondria, mitochondrial content eventually normalizes via increased mitochondrial clearance programs, and PanIN lesions progress to PDAC. We identify the Kras-Nix mitophagy program as a novel driver of glycolysis, redox robustness, and disease progression in PDAC.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-18-1409
  21. Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Jul 05. pii: gkz559. [Epub ahead of print]
    NSUN2 introduces 5-methylcytosines in mammalian mitochondrial tRNAs.
    Lindsey Van Haute, Song-Yi Lee, Beverly J McCann, Christopher A Powell, Dhiru Bansal, Lina Vasiliauskaitė, Caterina Garone, Sanghee Shin, Jong-Seo Kim, Michaela Frye, Joseph G Gleeson, Eric A Miska, Hyun-Woo Rhee, Michal Minczuk.
      Expression of human mitochondrial DNA is indispensable for proper function of the oxidative phosphorylation machinery. The mitochondrial genome encodes 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs and 11 mRNAs and their post-transcriptional modification constitutes one of the key regulatory steps during mitochondrial gene expression. Cytosine-5 methylation (m5C) has been detected in mitochondrial transcriptome, however its biogenesis has not been investigated in details. Mammalian NOP2/Sun RNA Methyltransferase Family Member 2 (NSUN2) has been characterized as an RNA methyltransferase introducing m5C in nuclear-encoded tRNAs, mRNAs and microRNAs and associated with cell proliferation and differentiation, with pathogenic variants in NSUN2 being linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. Here we employ spatially restricted proximity labelling and immunodetection to demonstrate that NSUN2 is imported into the matrix of mammalian mitochondria. Using three genetic models for NSUN2 inactivation-knockout mice, patient-derived fibroblasts and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout in human cells-we show that NSUN2 is necessary for the generation of m5C at positions 48, 49 and 50 of several mammalian mitochondrial tRNAs. Finally, we show that inactivation of NSUN2 does not have a profound effect on mitochondrial tRNA stability and oxidative phosphorylation in differentiated cells. We discuss the importance of the newly discovered function of NSUN2 in the context of human disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz559
  22. Hum Mol Genet. 2019 Jul 05. pii: ddz160. [Epub ahead of print]
    Deregulating mitochondrial metabolite and ion transport has beneficial effects in yeast and human cellular models for NARP syndrome.
    Xin Su, Malgorzata Rak, Emmanuel Tetaud, François Godard, Elodie Sardin, Marine Bouhier, Kewin Gombeau, Derek Caetano-Anollés, Bénédicte Salin, Huimei Chen, Jean-Paul di Rago, Déborah Tribouillard-Tanvier.
      The m.8993T>G mutation of the mitochondrial MT-ATP6 gene has been associated with numerous cases of neuropathy, ataxia, and retinitis pigmentosa (NARP) and maternally inherited Leigh Syndrome (MILS), which are diseases known to result from abnormalities affecting mitochondrial energy production. We previously reported that an equivalent point mutation severely compromised proton transport through the ATP synthase membrane domain (FO) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and reduced the content of cytochrome c oxidase (Complex IV or COX) by 80%. Herein, we report that overexpression of mitochondrial oxodicarboxylate carrier (Odc1p) considerably increases Complex IV abundance and TCA-mediated substrate-level phosphorylation of ADP, coupled to conversion of α-ketoglutarate into succinate in m.8993T>G yeast. Consistently in m.8993T>G yeast cells, the RTG signaling pathway was found to be strongly induced in order to preserve α-ketoglutarate production; when Odc1p was overexpressed, this stress pathway returned to an almost basal activity. Similar beneficial effects were induced by a partial uncoupling of the mitochondrial membrane with the proton ionophore, CCCP. This chemical considerably improved the glutamine-based, respiration-dependent growth of human cytoplasmic hybrid (cybrid) cells that are homoplasmic for the m.8993T>G mutation. These findings shed light on the interdependence between ATP synthase and Complex IV biogenesis, which could lay the groundwork for the creation of nutritional or metabolic interventions for attenuating the effects of mtDNA mutations.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddz160
  23. Autophagy. 2019 Jul 04. 1-3
    NIPSNAP1 and NIPSNAP2 act as "eat me" signals to allow sustained recruitment of autophagy receptors during mitophagy.
    Yakubu Princely Abudu, Serhiy Pankiv, Benan John Mathai, Trond Lamark, Terje Johansen, Anne Simonsen.
      Removal of damaged mitochondria is vital for cellular homeostasis especially in non-dividing cells, like neurons. Damaged mitochondria that cannot be repaired by the ubiquitin-proteasomal system are cleared by a form of selective autophagy known as mitophagy. Following damage, mitochondria become labelled with 'eat-me' signals that selectively determine their degradation. Recently, we identified the mitochondrial matrix proteins, NIPSNAP1 (nipsnap homolog 1) and NIPSNAP2 as 'eat-me' signals for damaged mitochondria. NIPSNAP1 and NIPSNAP2 accumulate on the mitochondrial outer membrane following mitochondrial depolarization, recruiting autophagy receptors and adaptors, as well as human Atg8 (autophagy-related 8)-family proteins to facilitate mitophagy. The NIPSNAPs allow a sustained recruitment of SQSTM1-like receptors (SLRs) to ensure efficient mitophagy. Zebrafish lacking Nipsnap1 show decreased mitophagy in the brain coupled with increased ROS production, loss of dopaminergic neurons and strongly reduced locomotion.
    Keywords:  Atg8; NIPSNAP1; NIPSNAP2; PINK1/Parkin; SLRs; mitophagy; ‘eat me’ signal
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2019.1637642
  24. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2019 Jul 03.
    The Novel Cyclophilin-D Interacting Protein FASTKD1 Protects Cells Against Oxidative Stress-Induced Death.
    Kurt D Marshall, Paula J Klutho, Lihui Song, Maike Krenz, Christopher P Baines.
      Opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore leads to necrotic cell death. Excluding cyclophilin D (CypD), the makeup of the MPT pore remains conjecture. The purpose of these experiments was to identify novel MPT modulators by analyzing proteins that associate with CypD. We identified Fas-activated serine/threonine phosphoprotein kinase domain-containing protein 1 (FASTKD1) as a novel CypD interactor. Overexpression of FASTKD1 protected mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) against oxidative stress-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death, whereas depletion of FASTKD1 sensitized them. However, manipulation of FASTKD1 levels had no effect on MPT responsiveness, Ca2+-induced cell death, or antioxidant capacity. Moreover, elevated FASTKD1 levels still protected against oxidative stress in CypD-deficient MEFs. FASTKD1 overexpression decreased Complex I-dependent respiration and ΔΨm in MEFs, effects that were abrogated in CypD-null cells. Additionally, overexpression of FASTKD1 in MEFs induced mitochondrial fragmentation independent of CypD, activation of Drp1, and inhibition of autophagy/mitophagy whereas knockdown of FASTKD1 had the opposite effect. Manipulation of FASTKD1 expression also modified oxidative stress-induced caspase-3 cleavage, yet did not alter apoptotic death. Finally, the effects of FASTKD1 overexpression on oxidative stress-induced cell death and mitochondrial morphology were recapitulated in cultured cardiac myocytes. Together, these data indicate that FASTKD1 supports mitochondrial homeostasis and plays a critical protective role against oxidant-induced death.
    Keywords:  Oxidative stress; apoptosis; autophagy; cell death; mitochondria
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00471.2018
  25. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 03. 9(1): 9616
    Dysfunctional MDR-1 disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis in the oocyte and ovary.
    Haley Clark, Laura O Knapik, Zijing Zhang, Xiaotian Wu, Mandar T Naik, Nathalie Oulhen, Gary M Wessel, Lynae M Brayboy.
      Multidrug resistance transporters (MDRs) are best known for their pathological role in neoplastic evasion of chemotherapeutics and antibiotics. Here we show that MDR-1 is present in the oocyte mitochondrial membrane, and it protects the female gamete from oxidative stress. Female mdr1a mutant mice have no significant difference in ovarian follicular counts and stages, nor in reproductively functioning hormone levels, yet these mice are significantly more vulnerable to gonadotoxic chemotherapy, have chronically elevated reactive oxygen species in immature germinal vesicle oocytes, exhibit a significant over-accumulation of metabolites involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and have abnormal mitochondrial membrane potential. The mdr1a mutant ovaries have a dramatically different transcriptomic profile with upregulation of genes involved in metabolism. Our findings indicate that functionality of MDR-1 reveals a critical intersection of metabolite regulation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction that has direct implications for human infertility, premature reproductive aging due to oxidative stress, and gonadoprotection.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46025-x
  26. Drug Metab Dispos. 2019 Jul 02. pii: dmd.119.088047. [Epub ahead of print]
    SULT4A1 Protects Against Oxidative-Stress Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction.
    Mohammed I Hossain, Joshua M Marcus, Jun Hee Lee, Patrick L Garcia, Jean-Philippe Gagne, Guy G Poirier, Charles N Falany, Shaida A Andrabi.
      Sulfotransferase 4A1 (SULT4A1), a member of cytosolic sulfotransferases (SULT) is exclusively expressed in neurons with no known function. Severe phenotype and early postnatal death in SULT4A1 knock out mice revealed that SULT4A1 is an essential neuronal protein. Localization of SULT4A1 in different cytosolic compartments, including mitochondria, suggests multiple roles for this protein. We observed that knockdown of SULT4A1 results in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in primary cortical neurons, suggesting a potential role of SULT4A1 in regulating redox homeostasis. Expression of SULT4A1 in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells revealed a defused but non-uniform staining pattern in the cytoplasm, with increased density around mitochondria. Subcellular fractionation of SULT4A1 expressing SH-SY5Y cells confirms the presence of SULT4A1 in mitochondrial fractions. SULT4A1 expressing cells display significant protection against H2O2-mediated defects in mitochondrial function and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Expression of SULT4A1 in SH-SY5Y cells also protects against H2O2-induced cell death. These data indicate that SULT4A1 protects mitochondria against oxidative damage, and may be an essential pharmacological target in neural diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Studies on SULT4A1 knock out mice suggest that SULT4A1 plays a vital role in neuronal function and survival via yet undefined mechanisms. Our data demonstrate that depletion of SULT4A1 induces oxidative stress in neurons and expression of SULT4A1 in SH-SY5Y cells protects against oxidative-stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. These results suggest that SULT4A1 may have a crucial protective function against mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, and may serve a potential therapeutic target in different neurological diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress.
    Keywords:  brain/CNS; neurotoxicity; reactive oxygen species/oxidative stress
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.119.088047
  27. Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 02. 10(1): 2919
    Cell type-dependent differential activation of ERK by oncogenic KRAS in colon cancer and intestinal epithelium.
    Raphael Brandt, Thomas Sell, Mareen Lüthen, Florian Uhlitz, Bertram Klinger, Pamela Riemer, Claudia Giesecke-Thiel, Silvia Schulze, Ismail Amr El-Shimy, Desiree Kunkel, Beatrix Fauler, Thorsten Mielke, Norbert Mages, Bernhard G Herrmann, Christine Sers, Nils Blüthgen, Markus Morkel.
      Oncogenic mutations in KRAS or BRAF are frequent in colorectal cancer and activate the ERK kinase. Here, we find graded ERK phosphorylation correlating with cell differentiation in patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids with and without KRAS mutations. Using reporters, single cell transcriptomics and mass cytometry, we observe cell type-specific phosphorylation of ERK in response to transgenic KRASG12V in mouse intestinal organoids, while transgenic BRAFV600E activates ERK in all cells. Quantitative network modelling from perturbation data reveals that activation of ERK is shaped by cell type-specific MEK to ERK feed forward and negative feedback signalling. We identify dual-specificity phosphatases as candidate modulators of ERK in the intestine. Furthermore, we find that oncogenic KRAS, together with β-Catenin, favours expansion of crypt cells with high ERK activity. Our experiments highlight key differences between oncogenic BRAF and KRAS in colorectal cancer and find unexpected heterogeneity in a signalling pathway with fundamental relevance for cancer therapy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10954-y
  28. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2019 Jul 03.
    GRK2 regulates mitochondrial bioenergetics and impairs myostatin-mediated autophagy in muscle cells.
    Leandro Henrique Manfredi, Joshur Ang, Nesibe Peker, Ruben K Dagda, Craig McFarlane.
      GRK2 is an important protein involved in β-adrenergic receptor desensitization. In addition, studies have shown GRK2 can modulate different metabolic processes in the cell. For instance, GRK2 has been recently shown to promote mitochondrial biogenesis and increase ATP production. However, the role of GRK2 in skeletal muscle and the signaling mechanisms that regulate GRK2 remain poorly understood. Myostatin is a well-known myokine that has been shown to impair mitochondria function. Here, we have assessed the role of Myostatin in regulating GRK2 and the subsequent downstream effect of Myostatin regulation of GRK2 on mitochondrial respiration in skeletal muscle. Myostatin treatment promoted the loss of GRK2 protein in myoblasts and myotubes in a time- and dose-dependent manner, which we suggest was through enhanced ubiquitin-mediated protein loss, as treatment with proteasome inhibitors partially rescued Myostatin-mediated loss of GRK2 protein. To evaluate the effects of GRK2 on mitochondrial respiration, we generated stable cell myoblasts lines that overexpress GRK2. Stable overexpression of GRK2 resulted in increased mitochondrial content and enhanced mitochondrial/oxidative respiration. Interestingly, although overexpression of GRK2 was unable to prevent Myostatin-mediated impairment of mitochondrial respiratory function, elevated levels of GRK2 blocked the increased autophagic flux observed following treatment with Myostatin. Overall, our data suggest a novel role for GRK2 in regulating mitochondria mass and mitochondrial respiration in skeletal muscle.
    Keywords:  Autophagy; GRK2; Mitochondria; Myoblast; Myostatin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00516.2018
  29. Cell Rep. 2019 Jul 02. pii: S2211-1247(19)30768-5. [Epub ahead of print]28(1): 104-118.e8
    Reprogramming of Amino Acid Transporters to Support Aspartate and Glutamate Dependency Sustains Endocrine Resistance in Breast Cancer.
    Marina Bacci, Nicla Lorito, Luigi Ippolito, Matteo Ramazzotti, Simone Luti, Simone Romagnoli, Matteo Parri, Francesca Bianchini, Federica Cappellesso, Federico Virga, Qiong Gao, Bruno M Simões, Elisabetta Marangoni, Lesley-Ann Martin, Giuseppina Comito, Manuela Ferracin, Elisa Giannoni, Massimiliano Mazzone, Paola Chiarugi, Andrea Morandi.
      Endocrine therapy (ET) is the standard of care for estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers. Despite its efficacy, ∼40% of women relapse with ET-resistant (ETR) disease. A global transcription analysis in ETR cells reveals a downregulation of the neutral and basic amino acid transporter SLC6A14 governed by enhanced miR-23b-3p expression, resulting in impaired amino acid metabolism. This altered amino acid metabolism in ETR cells is supported by the activation of autophagy and the enhanced import of acidic amino acids (aspartate and glutamate) mediated by the SLC1A2 transporter. The clinical significance of these findings is validated by multiple orthogonal approaches in a large cohort of ET-treated patients, in patient-derived xenografts, and in in vivo experiments. Targeting these amino acid metabolic dependencies resensitizes ETR cells to therapy and impairs the aggressive features of ETR cells, offering predictive biomarkers and potential targetable pathways to be exploited to combat or delay ETR in ER+ breast cancers.
    Keywords:  SLCs; amino acid transporters; aspartate; endocrine therapy; estrogen receptor; glutamate; metabolic reprogramming; miRNA; resistance
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.06.010
  30. Aging Cell. 2019 Jul 03. e12999
    PGC-1a integrates a metabolism and growth network linked to caloric restriction.
    Karl N Miller, Josef P Clark, Stephen A Martin, Porsha R Howell, Maggie S Burhans, Spencer A Haws, Nathan B Johnson, Timothy W Rhoads, Derek M Pavelec, Kevin W Eliceiri, Avtar S Roopra, James M Ntambi, John M Denu, Brian W Parks, Rozalyn M Anderson.
      Deleterious changes in energy metabolism have been linked to aging and disease vulnerability, while activation of mitochondrial pathways has been linked to delayed aging by caloric restriction (CR). The basis for these associations is poorly understood, and the scope of impact of mitochondrial activation on cellular function has yet to be defined. Here, we show that mitochondrial regulator PGC-1a is induced by CR in multiple tissues, and at the cellular level, CR-like activation of PGC-1a impacts a network that integrates mitochondrial status with metabolism and growth parameters. Transcriptional profiling reveals that diverse functions, including immune pathways, growth, structure, and macromolecule homeostasis, are responsive to PGC-1a. Mechanistically, these changes in gene expression were linked to chromatin remodeling and RNA processing. Metabolic changes implicated in the transcriptional data were confirmed functionally including shifts in NAD metabolism, lipid metabolism, and membrane lipid composition. Delayed cellular proliferation, altered cytoskeleton, and attenuated growth signaling through post-transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms were also identified as outcomes of PGC-1a-directed mitochondrial activation. Furthermore, in vivo in tissues from a genetically heterogeneous mouse population, endogenous PGC-1a expression was correlated with this same metabolism and growth network. These data show that small changes in metabolism have broad consequences that arguably would profoundly alter cell function. We suggest that this PGC-1a sensitive network may be the basis for the association between mitochondrial function and aging where small deficiencies precipitate loss of function across a spectrum of cellular activities.
    Keywords:  NAD; PGC-1a; caloric restriction; lipid metabolism; longevity; mitochondria; redox metabolism
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12999
  31. Elife. 2019 Jul 01. pii: e44795. [Epub ahead of print]8
    A tRNA modification balances carbon and nitrogen metabolism by regulating phosphate homeostasis.
    Ritu Gupta, Adhish Walvekar, Shun Liang, Zeenat Rashida, Premal Shah, Sunil Laxman.
      Cells must appropriately sense and integrate multiple metabolic resources to commit to proliferation. Here, we report that S. cerevisiae cells regulate carbon and nitrogen metabolic homeostasis through tRNA U34-thiolation. Despite amino acid sufficiency, tRNA-thiolation deficient cells appear amino acid starved. In these cells, carbon flux towards nucleotide synthesis decreases, and trehalose synthesis increases, resulting in a starvation-like metabolic signature. Thiolation mutants have only minor translation defects. However, in these cells phosphate homeostasis genes are strongly down-regulated, resulting in an effectively phosphate-limited state. Reduced phosphate enforces a metabolic switch, where glucose-6-phosphate is routed towards storage carbohydrates. Notably, trehalose synthesis, which releases phosphate and thereby restores phosphate availability, is central to this metabolic rewiring. Thus, cells use thiolated tRNAs to perceive amino acid sufficiency, balance carbon and amino acid metabolic flux and grow optimally, by controlling phosphate availability. These results further biochemically explain how phosphate availability determines a switch to a 'starvation-state'.
    Keywords:  S. cerevisiae; biochemistry; chemical biology; genetics; genomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44795
  32. Genetics. 2019 Jun 28. pii: genetics.302423.2019. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial Network State Scales mtDNA Genetic Dynamics.
    Juvid Aryaman, Charlotte Bowles, Nick S Jones, Iain G Johnston.
      Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations cause severe congenital diseases but may also be associated with healthy aging. MtDNA is stochastically replicated and degraded, and exists within organelles which undergo dynamic fusion and fission. The role of the resulting mitochondrial networks in the time evolution of the cellular proportion of mutated mtDNA molecules (heteroplasmy), and cell-to-cell variability in heteroplasmy (heteroplasmy variance), remains incompletely understood. Heteroplasmy variance is particularly important since it modulates the number of pathological cells in a tissue. Here, we provide the first wide-reaching theoretical framework which bridges mitochondrial network and genetic states. We show that, under a range of conditions, the (genetic) rate of increase in heteroplasmy variance and de novo mutation are proportionally modulated by the (physical) fraction of unfused mitochondria, independently of the absolute fission-fusion rate. In the context of selective fusion, we show that intermediate fusion/fission ratios are optimal for the clearance of mtDNA mutants. Our findings imply that modulating network state, mitophagy rate and copy number to slow down heteroplasmy dynamics when mean heteroplasmy is low could have therapeutic advantages for mitochondrial disease and healthy aging.
    Keywords:  Cellular noise; Heteroplasmy variance; Mitochondrial DNA; Mitochondrial networks
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.119.302423
  33. Redox Biol. 2019 Jun 15. pii: S2213-2317(19)30307-6. [Epub ahead of print]26 101255
    Mitochondria as central hub of the immune system.
    Cristiane Naffah de Souza Breda, Gustavo Gastão Davanzo, Paulo José Basso, Niels Olsen Saraiva Câmara, Pedro Manoel Mendes Moraes-Vieira.
      Nearly 130 years after the first insights into the existence of mitochondria, new rolesassociated with these organelles continue to emerge. As essential hubs that dictate cell fate, mitochondria integrate cell physiology, signaling pathways and metabolism. Thus, recent research has focused on understanding how these multifaceted functions can be used to improve inflammatory responses and prevent cellular dysfunction. Here, we describe the role of mitochondria on the development and function of immune cells, highlighting metabolic aspects and pointing out some metabolic- independent features of mitochondria that sustain cell function.
    Keywords:  And immune cells; Cell fate; Immunometabolism; Mitochondrial function
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2019.101255
  34. Biochim Biophys Acta Bioenerg. 2019 Jun 25. pii: S0005-2728(19)30068-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial respirasome works as a single unit and the cross-talk between complexes I, III2 and IV stimulates NADH dehydrogenase activity.
    Meztli Reyes-Galindo, Roselia Suarez, Mercedes Esparza-Perusquía, Jaime de Lira-Sánchez, J Pablo Pardo, Federico Martínez, Oscar Flores-Herrera.
      Ustilago maydis is an aerobic basidiomycete that depends on oxidative phosphorylation for its ATP supply, pointing to the mitochondrion as a key player in its energy metabolism. Mitochondrial respiratory complexes I, III2, and IV occur in supramolecular structures named respirasome. In this work, we characterized the subunit composition and the kinetics of NADH:Q oxidoreductase activity of the digitonine-solubilized respirasome (1600 kDa) and the free-complex I (990 kDa). In the presence of 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DBQ) and cytochrome c, both the respirasome NADH:O2 and the NADH:DBQ oxidoreductase activities were inhibited by rotenone, antimycin A or cyanide. A value of 2.4 for the NADH oxidized/oxygen reduced ratio was determined for the respirasome activity, while ROS production was less than 0.001% of the oxygen consumption rate. Analysis of the NADH:DBQ oxidoreductase activity showed that respirasome was 3-times more active and showed higher affinity than free-complex I. The results suggest that the contacts between complexes I, III2 and IV in the respirasome increase the catalytic efficiency of complex I and regulate its activity to prevent ROS production.
    Keywords:  Complex I activity; Mitochondrial supercomplexes; ROS production; Respirasome; Ustilago maydis mitochondria
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2019.06.017
  35. SLAS Discov. 2019 Jul 02. 2472555219860448
    A Therapeutic Role for the F1FO-ATP Synthase.
    Salvatore Nesci, Fabiana Trombetti, Cristina Algieri, Alessandra Pagliarani.
      Recently, the F1FO-ATP synthase, due to its dual role of life enzyme as main adenosine triphosphate (ATP) maker and of death enzyme, as ATP dissipator and putative structural component of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), which triggers cell death, has been increasingly considered as a drug target. Accordingly, the enzyme offers new strategies to counteract the increased antibiotic resistance. The challenge is to find or synthesize compounds able to discriminate between prokaryotic and mitochondrial F1FO-ATP synthase, exploiting subtle structural differences to kill pathogens without affecting the host. From this perspective, the eukaryotic enzyme could also be made refractory to macrolide antibiotics by chemically produced posttranslational modifications. Moreover, because the mitochondrial F1FO-ATPase activity stimulated by Ca2+ instead of by the natural modulator Mg2+ is most likely involved in mPTP formation, effectors preferentially targeting the Ca2+-activated enzyme may modulate the mPTP. If the enzyme involvement in the mPTP is confirmed, Ca2+-ATPase inhibitors may counteract conditions featured by an increased mPTP activity, such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases and physiological aging. Conversely, mPTP opening could be pharmacologically stimulated to selectively kill unwanted cells. On the basis of recent literature and promising lab findings, the action mechanism of F1 and FO inhibitors is considered. These molecules may act as enzyme modifiers and constitute new drugs to kill pathogens, improve compromised enzyme functions, and limit the deathly enzyme role in pathologies. The enzyme offers a wide spectrum of therapeutic strategies to fight at the molecular level diseases whose treatment is still insufficient or merely symptomatic.
    Keywords:  FF-ATP synthase; diseases; drug binding sites; mitochondria; mitochondrial permeability transition pore
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/2472555219860448
  36. Biochim Biophys Acta Bioenerg. 2019 Jun 24. pii: S0005-2728(19)30066-0. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial cristae narrowing upon higher 2-oxoglutarate load.
    Andrea Dlasková, Tomáš Špaček, Hana Engstová, Jitka Špačková, Adam Schröfel, Blanka Holendová, Katarína Smolková, Lydie Plecitá-Hlavatá, Petr Ježek.
      Hypoxia causes mitochondrial cristae widening, enabled by the ~20% degradation of Mic60/mitofilin, with concomitant clustering of the MICOS complex, reflecting the widening of crista junctions (outlets) (Plecitá-Hlavatá et al. FASEB J., 2016 30:1941-1957). Attempting to accelerate metabolism by the addition of membrane-permeant dimethyl-2-oxoglutarate (dm2OG) to HepG2 cells pre-adapted to hypoxia, we found cristae narrowing by transmission electron microscopy. Glycolytic HepG2 cells, which downregulate hypoxic respiration, instantly increased respiration with dm2OG. Changes in intracristal space (ICS) morphology were also revealed by 3D super-resolution microscopy using Eos-conjugated ICS-located lactamase-β. Cristae topology was resolved in detail by focused-ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM). The spatial relocations of key cristae-shaping proteins were indicated by immunocytochemical stochastic 3D super-resolution microscopy (dSTORM), while analyzing inter-antibody-distance histograms: i) ATP-synthase dimers exhibited a higher fraction of shorter inter-distances between bound F1-α primary Alexa-Fluor-647-conjugated antibodies, indicating cristae narrowing. ii) Mic60/mitofilin clusters (established upon hypoxia) decayed, restoring isotropic random Mic60/mitofilin distribution (a signature of normoxia). iii) outer membrane SAMM50 formed more focused clusters. Less abundant fractions of higher ATP-synthase oligomers of hypoxic samples on blue-native electrophoresis became more abundant fractions at the high dm2OG load and at normoxia. This indicates more labile ATP-synthase dimeric rows established at crista rims upon hypoxia, strengthened at normoxia or dm2OG-substrate load. Hypothetically, the increased Krebs substrate load stimulates the cross-linking/strengthening of rows of ATP-synthase dimers at the crista rims, making them sharper. Crista narrowing ensures a more efficient coupling of proton pumping to ATP synthesis. We demonstrated that cristae morphology changes even within minutes.
    Keywords:  3D super-resolution microscopy; ATP-synthase dimers; Dimethyl-2-oxoglutarate; Direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy; Hypoxia; Mic60/mitofilin; Mitochondrial cristae; dSTORM
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2019.06.015
  37. Cell. 2019 Jun 19. pii: S0092-8674(19)30631-2. [Epub ahead of print]
    Nrf2 Activation Promotes Lung Cancer Metastasis by Inhibiting the Degradation of Bach1.
    Luca Lignitto, Sarah E LeBoeuf, Harrison Homer, Shaowen Jiang, Manor Askenazi, Triantafyllia R Karakousi, Harvey I Pass, Arjun J Bhutkar, Aristotelis Tsirigos, Beatrix Ueberheide, Volkan I Sayin, Thales Papagiannakopoulos, Michele Pagano.
      Approximately 30% of human lung cancers acquire mutations in either Keap1 or Nfe2l2, resulting in the stabilization of Nrf2, the Nfe2l2 gene product, which controls oxidative homeostasis. Here, we show that heme triggers the degradation of Bach1, a pro-metastatic transcription factor, by promoting its interaction with the ubiquitin ligase Fbxo22. Nrf2 accumulation in lung cancers causes the stabilization of Bach1 by inducing Ho1, the enzyme catabolizing heme. In mouse models of lung cancers, loss of Keap1 or Fbxo22 induces metastasis in a Bach1-dependent manner. Pharmacological inhibition of Ho1 suppresses metastasis in a Fbxo22-dependent manner. Human metastatic lung cancer display high levels of Ho1 and Bach1. Bach1 transcriptional signature is associated with poor survival and metastasis in lung cancer patients. We propose that Nrf2 activates a metastatic program by inhibiting the heme- and Fbxo22-mediated degradation of Bach1, and that Ho1 inhibitors represent an effective therapeutic strategy to prevent lung cancer metastasis.
    Keywords:  Bach1; CRL complexes; F-box proteins; Fbxo22; Heme; Ho1 inhibitor; Keap1; Nrf2; cullin-RING ubiquitin ligase; lung cancer; metastasis; ubiquitin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.003
  38. Cell Metab. 2019 Jul 02. pii: S1550-4131(19)30315-8. [Epub ahead of print]30(1): 14-15
    A Physiological Function for Ferroptosis in Tumor Suppression by the Immune System.
    Brent R Stockwell, Xuejun Jiang.
      Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death involving lethal peroxidation of phospholipids (Hirschhorn and Stockwell, 2019). Recent results reveal that ferroptosis mediates the tumor suppressive activity of interferon gamma secreted by CD8+ T cells in response to immune checkpoint blockade, suggesting the immune system may function in part through ferroptosis to prevent tumorigenesis (Wang et al., 2019).
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.06.012
  39. Sci Adv. 2019 Jun;5(6): eaav7769
    Nutrient availability shapes methionine metabolism in p16/MTAP-deleted cells.
    Sydney M Sanderson, Peter G Mikhael, Vijyendra Ramesh, Ziwei Dai, Jason W Locasale.
      Codeletions of gene loci containing tumor suppressors and neighboring metabolic enzymes present an attractive synthetic dependency in cancers. However, the impact that these genetic events have on metabolic processes, which are also dependent on nutrient availability and other environmental factors, is unknown. As a proof of concept, we considered panels of cancer cells with homozygous codeletions in CDKN2a and MTAP, genes respectively encoding the commonly-deleted tumor suppressor p16 and an enzyme involved in methionine metabolism. A comparative metabolomics analysis revealed that while a metabolic signature of MTAP deletion is apparent, it is not preserved upon restriction of nutrients related to methionine metabolism. Furthermore, re-expression of MTAP exerts heterogeneous consequences on metabolism across isogenic cell pairs. Together, this study demonstrates that numerous factors, particularly nutrition, can overwhelm the effects of metabolic gene deletions on metabolism. These findings may also have relevance to drug development efforts aiming to target methionine metabolism.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav7769
  40. Trends Cell Biol. 2019 Jun 24. pii: S0962-8924(19)30081-9. [Epub ahead of print]
    Quiescence: Good and Bad of Stem Cell Aging.
    Stefan Tümpel, K Lenhard Rudolph.
      Stem cells are required for lifelong homeostasis and regeneration of tissues and organs in mammals, but the function of stem cells declines during aging. To preserve stem cells during life, they are kept in a quiescent state with low metabolic and low proliferative activity. However, activation of quiescent stem cells - an essential process for organ homeostasis/regeneration - requires concerted and faithful regulation of multiple molecular circuits controlling biosynthetic processes, repair mechanisms, and metabolic activity. Thus, while protecting stem cell maintenance, quiescence comes at the cost of vulnerability during the process of stem cell activation. Here we discuss molecular and biochemical processes regulating stem cells' maintenance in and exit from quiescence and how age-related failures of these circuits can contribute to organism aging.
    Keywords:  aging; epigenetics; metabolism; quiescence; stem cells; tissue homeostasis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2019.05.002
  41. Nature. 2019 Jul;571(7763): 39-40
    Metabolic signal curbs cancer-cell migration.
    Lydia W S Finley.
      
    Keywords:  Cancer; Medical research; Metabolism
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01934-9
  42. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 04. 9(1): 9715
    The Homeobox gene, HOXB13, Regulates a Mitotic Protein-Kinase Interaction Network in Metastatic Prostate Cancers.
    Jiqiang Yao, Yunyun Chen, Duy T Nguyen, Zachary J Thompson, Alexey M Eroshkin, Niveditha Nerlakanti, Ami K Patel, Neha Agarwal, Jamie K Teer, Jasreman Dhillon, Domenico Coppola, Jingsong Zhang, Ranjan Perera, Youngchul Kim, Kiran Mahajan.
      HOXB13, a homeodomain transcription factor, is linked to recurrence following radical prostatectomy. While HOXB13 regulates Androgen Receptor (AR) functions in a context dependent manner, its critical effectors in prostate cancer (PC) metastasis remain largely unknown. To identify HOXB13 transcriptional targets in metastatic PCs, we performed integrative bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the proximity of the human prostate tumor-specific AR binding sites. Unsupervised Principal Component Analysis (PCA) led to a focused core HOXB13 target gene-set referred to as HOTPAM9 (HOXB13 Targets separating Primary And Metastatic PCs). HOTPAM9 comprised 7 mitotic kinase genes overexpressed in metastatic PCs, TRPM8, and the heat shock protein HSPB8, whose levels were significantly lower in metastatic PCs compared to the primary disease. The expression of a two-gene set, CIT and HSPB8 with an overall balanced accuracy of 98.8% and a threshold value of 0.2347, was sufficient to classify metastasis. HSPB8 mRNA expression was significantly increased following HOXB13 depletion in multiple metastatic CRPC models. Increased expression of HSPB8 by the microtubule inhibitor Colchicine or by exogenous means suppressed migration of mCRPC cells. Collectively, our results indicate that HOXB13 promotes metastasis of PCs by coordinated regulation of mitotic kinases and blockade of a putative tumor suppressor gene.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46064-4
  43. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2019 Jul 03.
    Genomic imprinting and its effects on postnatal growth and adult metabolism.
    Steven J Millership, Mathew Van de Pette, Dominic J Withers.
      Imprinted genes display parent-of-origin-specific expression with this epigenetic system of regulation found exclusively in therian mammals. Historically, defined imprinted gene functions were almost solely focused on pregnancy and the influence on the growth parameters of the developing embryo and placenta. More recently, a number of postnatal functions have been identified which converge on resource allocation, both for animals in the nest and in adults. While many of the prenatal functions of imprinted genes that have so far been described adhere to the "parental conflict" hypothesis, no clear picture has yet emerged on the functional role of imprints on postnatal metabolism. As these roles are uncovered, interest in the potential for these genes to influence postnatal metabolism and associated adult-onset disease outcomes when dysregulated has gathered pace. Here, we review the published data on imprinted genes and their influence on postnatal metabolism, starting in the nest, and then progressing through to adulthood. When observing the functional effects of these genes on adult metabolism, we must always be careful to acknowledge the influence both of direct expression in the relevant metabolic tissue, but also indirect metabolic programming effects caused by their modulation of both in utero and postnatal growth trajectories.
    Keywords:  Diet; Environment; Maternal care; Metabolic programming; Mouse models; Obesity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-019-03197-z
  44. Cell Signal. 2019 Jul 02. pii: S0898-6568(19)30151-2. [Epub ahead of print] 109355
    Transcriptional regulation of human cyclic GMP-AMP synthase gene.
    Hai-Yan Chen, Xiao-Yu Pang, Yan-Yan Xu, Guo-Ping Zhou, Hua-Guo Xu.
      Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS, cGAMP synthase) plays crucial roles in autoimmune disease, anti-tumor response, anti-senescence and anti-inflammatory response. Many studies have focused on cGAS-mediated signaling pathway. However, transcriptional mechanisms of cGAS gene have remained largely unknown. Here, we cloned the cGAS promoter region and characterized the molecular mechanisms controlling the cGAS transcriptional activity. By a series of 5' deletion and promoter constructions, we showed that the region (-414 to +76 relatives to the transcription start site) was sufficient for promoter activity. Mutation of Sp1 and CREB binding sites in this promoter region led to an apparent reduction of the cGAS promoter activity. Overexpression of Sp1 and CREB could obviously enhance promoter activity, whereas knocking-down of endogenous Sp1 and CREB markedly restrained the cGAS promoter activity. Sp1 and CREB binding to the cGAS promoter region in vivo was verified by Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. These results pointed out that transcription factors Sp1 and CREB regulate the transcription of the cGAS gene.
    Keywords:  CREB; Sp1; Transcriptional regulation; cGAS
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellsig.2019.109355
  45. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 05. 9(1): 9787
    Comprehensive Metabolomic Analysis of IDH1R132H Clinical Glioma Samples Reveals Suppression of β-oxidation Due to Carnitine Deficiency.
    Satsuki Miyata, Kaoru Tominaga, Eiji Sakashita, Masashi Urabe, Yoshiyuki Onuki, Akira Gomi, Takashi Yamaguchi, Makiko Mieno, Hiroaki Mizukami, Akihiro Kume, Keiya Ozawa, Eiju Watanabe, Kensuke Kawai, Hitoshi Endo.
      Gliomas with Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation have alterations in several enzyme activities, resulting in various metabolic changes. The aim of this study was to determine a mechanism for the better prognosis of gliomas with IDH mutation by performing metabolomic analysis. To understand the metabolic state of human gliomas, we analyzed clinical samples obtained from surgical resection of glioma patients (grades II-IV) with or without the IDH1 mutation, and compared the results with U87 glioblastoma cells overexpressing IDH1 or IDH1R132H. In clinical samples of gliomas with IDH1 mutation, levels of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG) were increased significantly compared with gliomas without IDH mutation. Gliomas with IDH mutation also showed decreased intermediates in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and pathways involved in the production of energy, amino acids, and nucleic acids. The marked difference in the metabolic profile in IDH mutant clinical glioma samples compared with that of mutant IDH expressing cells includes a decrease in β-oxidation due to acyl-carnitine and carnitine deficiencies. These metabolic changes may explain the lower cell division rate observed in IDH mutant gliomas and may provide a better prognosis in IDH mutant gliomas.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46217-5
  46. Cell Metab. 2019 Jul 02. pii: S1550-4131(19)30304-3. [Epub ahead of print]30(1): 36-50
    Macrophages and Metabolism in the Tumor Microenvironment.
    Ilio Vitale, Gwenola Manic, Lisa M Coussens, Guido Kroemer, Lorenzo Galluzzi.
      Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) constitute a plastic and heterogeneous cell population of the tumor microenvironment (TME) that can account for up to 50% of some solid neoplasms. Most often, TAMs support disease progression and resistance to therapy by providing malignant cells with trophic and nutritional support. However, TAMs can mediate antineoplastic effects, especially in response to pharmacological agents that boost their phagocytic and oxidative functions. Thus, TAMs and their impact on the overall metabolic profile of the TME have a major influence on tumor progression and resistance to therapy, de facto constituting promising targets for the development of novel anticancer agents. Here, we discuss the metabolic circuitries whereby TAMs condition the TME to support tumor growth and how such pathways can be therapeutically targeted.
    Keywords:  fatty acid oxidation; glycolysis; hypoxia; immunosuppressive metabolites; immunotherapy; oxidative phosphorylation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.06.001
  47. BMC Biol. 2019 Jul 04. 17(1): 51
    Studying metabolic flux adaptations in cancer through integrated experimental-computational approaches.
    Shoval Lagziel, Won Dong Lee, Tomer Shlomi.
      
    Keywords:  13C-MFA; COBRA; Cancer metabolism; Constraint-based modeling; Isotope tracing; Metabolic flux analysis; Metabolic network modeling
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-019-0669-x
  48. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2019 Jul 01.
    DNA double-strand break repair-pathway choice in somatic mammalian cells.
    Ralph Scully, Arvind Panday, Rajula Elango, Nicholas A Willis.
      The major pathways of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair are crucial for maintaining genomic stability. However, if deployed in an inappropriate cellular context, these same repair functions can mediate chromosome rearrangements that underlie various human diseases, ranging from developmental disorders to cancer. The two major mechanisms of DSB repair in mammalian cells are non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination. In this Review, we consider DSB repair-pathway choice in somatic mammalian cells as a series of 'decision trees', and explore how defective pathway choice can lead to genomic instability. Stalled, collapsed or broken DNA replication forks present a distinctive challenge to the DSB repair system. Emerging evidence suggests that the 'rules' governing repair-pathway choice at stalled replication forks differ from those at replication-independent DSBs.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-019-0152-0
  49. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 04. 9(1): 9656
    Fractionated mitochondrial magnetic separation for isolation of synaptic mitochondria from brain tissue.
    W Brad Hubbard, Christopher L Harwood, Paresh Prajapati, Joe E Springer, Kathryn E Saatman, Patrick G Sullivan.
      While mitochondria maintain essential cellular functions, such as energy production, calcium homeostasis, and regulating programmed cellular death, they also play a major role in pathophysiology of many neurological disorders. Furthermore, several neurodegenerative diseases are closely linked with synaptic damage and synaptic mitochondrial dysfunction. Unfortunately, the ability to assess mitochondrial dysfunction and the efficacy of mitochondrial-targeted therapies in experimental models of neurodegenerative disease and CNS injury is limited by current mitochondrial isolation techniques. Density gradient ultracentrifugation (UC) is currently the only technique that can separate synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondrial sub-populations, though small brain regions cannot be assayed due to low mitochondrial yield. To address this limitation, we used fractionated mitochondrial magnetic separation (FMMS), employing magnetic anti-Tom22 antibodies, to develop a novel strategy for isolation of functional synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria from mouse cortex and hippocampus without the usage of UC. We compared the yield and functionality of mitochondria derived using FMMS to those derived by UC. FMMS produced 3x more synaptic mitochondrial protein yield compared to UC from the same amount of tissue, a mouse hippocampus. FMMS also has increased sensitivity, compared to UC separation, to measure decreased mitochondrial respiration, demonstrated in a paradigm of mild closed head injury. Taken together, FMMS enables improved brain-derived mitochondrial yield for mitochondrial assessments and better detection of mitochondrial impairment in CNS injury and neurodegenerative disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45568-3
  50. Aging (Albany NY). 2019 Jun 30. 11
    HNRNPA1-mediated 3' UTR length changes of HN1 contributes to cancer- and senescence-associated phenotypes.
    Qi Jia, Hongbo Nie, Peng Yu, Baiyun Xie, Chenji Wang, Fu Yang, Gang Wei, Ting Ni.
      Cellular senescence has been regarded as a mechanism of tumor suppression. Studying the regulation of gene expression at various levels in cell senescence will shed light on cancer therapy. Alternative polyadenylation (APA) regulates gene expression by altering 3' untranslated regions (3' UTR) and plays important roles in diverse biological processes. However, whether APA of a specific gene functions in both cancer and senescence remains unclear. Here, we discovered that 3' UTR of HN1 (or JPT1) showed shortening in cancers and lengthening in senescence, correlated well with its high expression in cancer cells and low expression in senescent cells, respectively. HN1 transcripts with longer 3' UTR were less stable and produced less protein. Down-regulation of HN1 induced senescence-associated phenotypes in both normal and cancer cells. Patients with higher HN1 expression had lower survival rates in various carcinomas. Interestingly, down-regulating the splicing factor HNRNPA1 induced 3' UTR lengthening of HN1 and senescence-associated phenotypes, which could be partially reversed by overexpressing HN1. Together, we revealed for the first time that HNRNPA1-mediated APA of HN1 contributed to cancer- and senescence-related phenotypes. Given senescence is a cancer prevention mechanism, our discovery indicates the HNRNPA1-HN1 axis as a potential target for cancer treatment.
    Keywords:  HN1; HNRNPA1; alternative polyadenylation; cancer; senescence
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102060
  51. Cell. 2019 Jun 26. pii: S0092-8674(19)30633-6. [Epub ahead of print]
    BACH1 Stabilization by Antioxidants Stimulates Lung Cancer Metastasis.
    Clotilde Wiel, Kristell Le Gal, Mohamed X Ibrahim, Chowdhury Arif Jahangir, Muhammad Kashif, Haidong Yao, Dorian V Ziegler, Xiufeng Xu, Tanushree Ghosh, Tanmoy Mondal, Chandrasekhar Kanduri, Per Lindahl, Volkan I Sayin, Martin O Bergo.
      For tumors to progress efficiently, cancer cells must overcome barriers of oxidative stress. Although dietary antioxidant supplementation or activation of endogenous antioxidants by NRF2 reduces oxidative stress and promotes early lung tumor progression, little is known about its effect on lung cancer metastasis. Here, we show that long-term supplementation with the antioxidants N-acetylcysteine and vitamin E promotes KRAS-driven lung cancer metastasis. The antioxidants stimulate metastasis by reducing levels of free heme and stabilizing the transcription factor BACH1. BACH1 activates transcription of Hexokinase 2 and Gapdh and increases glucose uptake, glycolysis rates, and lactate secretion, thereby stimulating glycolysis-dependent metastasis of mouse and human lung cancer cells. Targeting BACH1 normalized glycolysis and prevented antioxidant-induced metastasis, while increasing endogenous BACH1 expression stimulated glycolysis and promoted metastasis, also in the absence of antioxidants. We conclude that BACH1 stimulates glycolysis-dependent lung cancer metastasis and that BACH1 is activated under conditions of reduced oxidative stress.
    Keywords:  BACH1; KRAS; antioxidants; heme; lung cancer metastasis; mouse models; oxidative stress
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.005
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