bims-celmim Biomed News
on Cellular and mitochondrial metabolism
Issue of 2023‒11‒26
nineteen papers selected by
Marc Segarra Mondejar, University of Cologne
  1. Metabolic Regulation of Single Synaptic Vesicle Exo- and Endocytosis in Hippocampal Synapses.
  2. Proline and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase promote a hyper-proliferative state and dampen ferroptosis in cancer cells by rewiring mitochondrial redox metabolism.
  3. Vitamin B5 Supports Oncogenic Metabolism in MYC-Driven Breast Cancer.
  4. Inferring mitochondrial and cytosolic metabolism by coupling isotope tracing and deconvolution.
  5. Sirtuin3 ensures the metabolic plasticity of neurotransmission during glucose deprivation.
  6. Aerobic glycolysis is the predominant means of glucose metabolism in neuronal somata, which protects against oxidative damage.
  7. Mitochondrial Calcium Waves by Electrical Stimulation in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons.
  8. Mitochondrial fission drives neuronal metabolic burden to promote stress susceptibility in male mice.
  9. Membrane potential accelerates sugar uptake by stabilizing the outward facing conformation of the Na/glucose symporter vSGLT.
  10. Lysosomes as coordinators of cellular catabolism, metabolic signalling and organ physiology.
  11. Mitochondrial nucleoid condensates drive peripheral fission through high membrane curvature.
  12. Determination of Metabolic Fluxes by Deep Learning of Isotope Labeling Patterns.
  13. Targeting protein methylation in pancreatic cancer cells results in KRAS signaling imbalance and inhibition of autophagy.
  14. Live-Cell Imaging Quantifies Changes in Function and Metabolic NADH Autofluorescence During Macrophage-Mediated Phagocytosis of Tumor Cells.
  15. Mitochondrial One-Carbon Metabolism is Required for TGF-β-Induced Glycine Synthesis and Collagen Protein Production.
  16. Differential Expression Analysis Utilizing Condition-Specific Metabolic Pathways.
  17. The tRNA-GCN2-FBXO22-axis-mediated mTOR ubiquitination senses amino acid insufficiency.
  18. A distinct Acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP6) shapes tissue plasticity during nutrient adaptation in Drosophila.
  19. Regulations and functions of proline utilization in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
  1. bioRxiv. 2023 Nov 11. pii: 2023.11.08.566236. [Epub ahead of print]
    Metabolic Regulation of Single Synaptic Vesicle Exo- and Endocytosis in Hippocampal Synapses.
    Jongyun Myeong, Marion I Stunault, Vitaly A Klyachko, Ghazaleh Ashrafi.
      Glucose has long been considered a primary source of energy for synaptic function. However, it remains unclear under what conditions alternative fuels, such as lactate/pyruvate, contribute to powering synaptic transmission. By detecting individual release events in cultured hippocampal synapses, we found that mitochondrial ATP production from oxidation of lactate/pyruvate regulates basal vesicle release probability and release location within the active zone (AZ) evoked by single action potentials (APs). Mitochondrial inhibition shifted vesicle release closer to the AZ center, suggesting that the energetic barrier for vesicle release is lower in the AZ center that the periphery. Mitochondrial inhibition also altered the efficiency of single AP evoked vesicle retrieval by increasing occurrence of ultrafast endocytosis, while inhibition of glycolysis had no effect. Mitochondria are sparsely distributed along hippocampal axons and we found that nerve terminals containing mitochondria displayed enhanced vesicle release and reuptake during high-frequency trains, irrespective of whether neurons were supplied with glucose or lactate. Thus, synaptic terminals can entirely bypass glycolysis to robustly maintain the vesicle cycle using oxidative fuels in the absence of glucose. These observations further suggest that mitochondrial metabolic function not only regulates several fundamental features of synaptic transmission but may also contribute to modulation of short-term synaptic plasticity.Highlights: Synapses can sustain neurotransmission across various activity levels by bypassing glycolysis and utilizing oxidative fuels.Mitochondria, but not glycolysis, regulate release probability and nanoscale organization of vesicle release within the active zone.Mitochondrial inhibition increases the occurrence of vesicle retrieval via ultra-fast endocytosis.Mitochondrial localization in nerve terminals enhances vesicle release and retrieval in the absence of glucose, representing a form of synaptic plasticity.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.08.566236
  2. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2023 Nov 21. pii: S0167-4889(23)00212-4. [Epub ahead of print] 119639
    Proline and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase promote a hyper-proliferative state and dampen ferroptosis in cancer cells by rewiring mitochondrial redox metabolism.
    Ryan J Mailloux.
      Redox realignment is integral to the initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancer. This requires considerable metabolic rewiring to induce aberrant shifts in redox homeostasis that favor high hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation for the induction of a hyper-proliferative state. The ability of tumor cells to thrive under the oxidative burden imposed by this high H2O2 is achieved by increasing antioxidant defenses. This shift in the redox stress signaling threshold (RST) also dampens ferroptosis, an iron (Fe)-dependent form of cell death activated by oxidative distress and lipid peroxidation reactions. Mitochondria are central to the malignant transformation of normal cells to cancerous ones since these organelles supply building blocks for anabolism, govern ferroptosis, and serve as the major source of cell H2O2. This review summarizes advances in understanding the rewiring of redox reactions in mitochondria to promote carcinogenesis, focusing on how cancer cells hijack the electron transport chain (ETC) to promote proliferation and evasion of ferroptosis. I then apply emerging concepts in redox homeodynamics to discuss how the rewiring of the Krebs cycle and ETC promotes shifts in the RST to favor high rates of H2O2 generation for cell signaling. This discussion then focuses on proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), two enzymes over expressed in cancers, and how their link to one another through the coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) pool generates a redox connection that forms a H2O2 signaling platform and pyrimidine synthesome that favors a hyper-proliferative state and disables ferroptosis.
    Keywords:  Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase;; Ferroptosis; Hydrogen peroxide; Proline dehydrogense; Redox stress signaling threshold
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2023.119639
  3. Cancer Discov. 2023 Nov 22. OF1
    Vitamin B5 Supports Oncogenic Metabolism in MYC-Driven Breast Cancer.
      Pantothetic acid is required for metabolic activity that supports MYC-driven breast tumor growth.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-RW2023-185
  4. Nat Commun. 2023 11 18. 14(1): 7525
    Inferring mitochondrial and cytosolic metabolism by coupling isotope tracing and deconvolution.
    Alon Stern, Mariam Fokra, Boris Sarvin, Ahmad Abed Alrahem, Won Dong Lee, Elina Aizenshtein, Nikita Sarvin, Tomer Shlomi.
      The inability to inspect metabolic activities within distinct subcellular compartments has been a major barrier to our understanding of eukaryotic cell metabolism. Previous work addressed this challenge by analyzing metabolism in isolated organelles, which grossly bias metabolic activity. Here, we describe a method for inferring physiological metabolic fluxes and metabolite concentrations in mitochondria and cytosol based on isotope tracing experiments performed with intact cells. This is made possible by computational deconvolution of metabolite isotopic labeling patterns and concentrations into cytosolic and mitochondrial counterparts, coupled with metabolic and thermodynamic modelling. Our approach lowers the uncertainty regarding compartmentalized fluxes and concentrations by one and three orders of magnitude compared to existing modelling approaches, respectively. We derive a quantitative view of mitochondrial and cytosolic metabolic activities in central carbon metabolism across cultured cell lines without performing cell fractionation, finding major variability in compartmentalized malate-aspartate shuttle fluxes. We expect our approach for inferring metabolism at a subcellular resolution to be instrumental for a variety of studies of metabolic dysfunction in human disease and for bioengineering.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42824-z
  5. J Cell Biol. 2024 Jan 01. pii: e202305048. [Epub ahead of print]223(1):
    Sirtuin3 ensures the metabolic plasticity of neurotransmission during glucose deprivation.
    Anupama Tiwari, Arsalan Hashemiaghdam, Marissa A Laramie, Dario Maschi, Tristaan Haddad, Marion I Stunault, Carmen Bergom, Ali Javaheri, Vitaly Klyachko, Ghazaleh Ashrafi.
      Neurotransmission is an energetically expensive process that underlies cognition. During intense electrical activity or dietary restrictions, the glucose level in the brain plummets, forcing neurons to utilize alternative fuels. However, the molecular mechanisms of neuronal metabolic plasticity remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that glucose-deprived neurons activate the CREB and PGC1α transcriptional program, which induces expression of the mitochondrial deacetylase Sirtuin 3 (Sirt3) both in vitro and in vivo. We show that Sirt3 localizes to axonal mitochondria and stimulates mitochondrial oxidative capacity in hippocampal nerve terminals. Sirt3 plays an essential role in sustaining synaptic transmission in the absence of glucose by providing metabolic support for the retrieval of synaptic vesicles after release. These results demonstrate that the transcriptional induction of Sirt3 facilitates the metabolic plasticity of synaptic transmission.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202305048
  6. Nat Neurosci. 2023 Nov 23.
    Aerobic glycolysis is the predominant means of glucose metabolism in neuronal somata, which protects against oxidative damage.
    Yao Wei, QianQian Miao, Qian Zhang, Shiyu Mao, Mengke Li, Xing Xu, Xian Xia, Ke Wei, Yu Fan, Xinlei Zheng, Yinquan Fang, Meng Mei, Qingyu Zhang, Jianhua Ding, Yi Fan, Ming Lu, Gang Hu.
      It is generally thought that under basal conditions, neurons produce ATP mainly through mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), and glycolytic activity only predominates when neurons are activated and need to meet higher energy demands. However, it remains unknown whether there are differences in glucose metabolism between neuronal somata and axon terminals. Here, we demonstrated that neuronal somata perform higher levels of aerobic glycolysis and lower levels of OXPHOS than terminals, both during basal and activated states. We found that the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase 2 (PKM2) is localized predominantly in the somata rather than in the terminals. Deletion of Pkm2 in mice results in a switch from aerobic glycolysis to OXPHOS in neuronal somata, leading to oxidative damage and progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. Our findings update the conventional view that neurons uniformly use OXPHOS under basal conditions and highlight the important role of somatic aerobic glycolysis in maintaining antioxidant capacity.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-023-01476-4
  7. Mol Neurobiol. 2023 Nov 23.
    Mitochondrial Calcium Waves by Electrical Stimulation in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons.
    Yunkyung Eom, Sung Rae Kim, Yeong-Kyeong Kim, Sung Hoon Lee.
      Mitochondria are critical to cellular Ca2+ homeostasis via the sequestering of cytosolic Ca2+ in the mitochondrial matrix. Mitochondrial Ca2+ buffering regulates neuronal activity and neuronal death by shaping cytosolic and presynaptic Ca2+ or controlling energy metabolism. Dysfunction in mitochondrial Ca2+ buffering has been implicated in psychological and neurological disorders. Ca2+ wave propagation refers to the spreading of Ca2+ for buffering and maintaining the associated rise in Ca2+ concentration. We investigated mitochondrial Ca2+ waves in hippocampal neurons using genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators. Neurons transfected with mito-GCaMP5G, mito-RCaMP1h, and CEPIA3mt exhibited evidence of mitochondrial Ca2+ waves with electrical stimulation. These waves were observed with 200 action potentials at 40 Hz or 20 Hz but not with lower frequencies or fewer action potentials. The application of inhibitors of mitochondrial calcium uniporter and oxidative phosphorylation suppressed mitochondrial Ca2+ waves. However, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor blockade had no effect on mitochondrial Ca2+ wave were propagation. The Ca2+ waves were not observed in endoplasmic reticula, presynaptic terminals, or cytosol in association with electrical stimulation of 200 action potentials at 40 Hz. These results offer novel insights into the mechanisms underlying mitochondrial Ca2+ buffering and the molecular basis of mitochondrial Ca2+ waves in neurons in response to electrical stimulation.
    Keywords:  Ca2+ waves; Electrical stimulation; Genetically encoded calcium indicators; Hippocampal neurons; Mitochondria
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-023-03795-w
  8. Nat Metab. 2023 Nov 20.
    Mitochondrial fission drives neuronal metabolic burden to promote stress susceptibility in male mice.
    Wan-Ting Dong, Li-Hong Long, Qiao Deng, Duo Liu, Jia-Lin Wang, Fang Wang, Jian-Guo Chen.
      Neurons are particularly susceptible to energy fluctuations in response to stress. Mitochondrial fission is highly regulated to generate ATP via oxidative phosphorylation; however, the role of a regulator of mitochondrial fission in neuronal energy metabolism and synaptic efficacy under chronic stress remains elusive. Here, we show that chronic stress promotes mitochondrial fission in the medial prefrontal cortex via activating dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction in male mice. Both pharmacological inhibition and genetic reduction of Drp1 ameliorates the deficit of excitatory synaptic transmission and stress-related depressive-like behavior. In addition, enhancing Drp1 fission promotes stress susceptibility, which is alleviated by coenzyme Q10, which potentiates mitochondrial ATP production. Together, our findings unmask the role of Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission in the deficits of neuronal metabolic burden and depressive-like behavior and provides medication basis for metabolism-related emotional disorders.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00924-6
  9. Nat Commun. 2023 11 18. 14(1): 7511
    Membrane potential accelerates sugar uptake by stabilizing the outward facing conformation of the Na/glucose symporter vSGLT.
    Farha Khan, Matthias Elgeti, Samuel Grandfield, Aviv Paz, Fiona B Naughton, Frank V Marcoline, Thorsten Althoff, Natalia Ermolova, Ernest M Wright, Wayne L Hubbell, Michael Grabe, Jeff Abramson.
      Sodium-dependent glucose transporters (SGLTs) couple a downhill Na+ ion gradient to actively transport sugars. Here, we investigate the impact of the membrane potential on vSGLT structure and function using sugar uptake assays, double electron-electron resonance (DEER), electrostatic calculations, and kinetic modeling. Negative membrane potentials, as present in all cell types, shift the conformational equilibrium of vSGLT towards an outward-facing conformation, leading to increased sugar transport rates. Electrostatic calculations identify gating charge residues responsible for this conformational shift that when mutated reduce galactose transport and eliminate the response of vSGLT to potential. Based on these findings, we propose a comprehensive framework for sugar transport via vSGLT, where the cellular membrane potential facilitates resetting of the transporter after cargo release. This framework holds significance not only for SGLTs but also for other transporters and channels.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43119-z
  10. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2023 Nov 24.
    Lysosomes as coordinators of cellular catabolism, metabolic signalling and organ physiology.
    Carmine Settembre, Rushika M Perera.
      Every cell must satisfy basic requirements for nutrient sensing, utilization and recycling through macromolecular breakdown to coordinate programmes for growth, repair and stress adaptation. The lysosome orchestrates these key functions through the synchronised interplay between hydrolytic enzymes, nutrient transporters and signalling factors, which together enable metabolic coordination with other organelles and regulation of specific gene expression programmes. In this Review, we discuss recent findings on lysosome-dependent signalling pathways, focusing on how the lysosome senses nutrient availability through its physical and functional association with mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and how, in response, the microphthalmia/transcription factor E (MiT/TFE) transcription factors exert feedback regulation on lysosome biogenesis. We also highlight the emerging interactions of lysosomes with other organelles, which contribute to cellular homeostasis. Lastly, we discuss how lysosome dysfunction contributes to diverse disease pathologies and how inherited mutations that compromise lysosomal hydrolysis, transport or signalling components lead to multi-organ disorders with severe metabolic and neurological impact. A deeper comprehension of lysosomal composition and function, at both the cellular and organismal level, may uncover fundamental insights into human physiology and disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-023-00676-x
  11. Cell Rep. 2023 Nov 23. pii: S2211-1247(23)01484-5. [Epub ahead of print]42(12): 113472
    Mitochondrial nucleoid condensates drive peripheral fission through high membrane curvature.
    Qixin Chen, Liu-Yi Liu, Zhiqi Tian, Zhou Fang, Kang-Nan Wang, Xintian Shao, Chengying Zhang, Weiwei Zou, Fiona Rowan, Kangqiang Qiu, Baohua Ji, Jun-Lin Guan, Dechang Li, Zong-Wan Mao, Jiajie Diao.
      Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that undergo fusion and fission events, in which the mitochondrial membrane and DNA (mtDNA) play critical roles. The spatiotemporal organization of mtDNA reflects and impacts mitochondrial dynamics. Herein, to study the detailed dynamics of mitochondrial membrane and mtDNA, we rationally develop a dual-color fluorescent probe, mtGLP, that could be used for simultaneously monitoring mitochondrial membrane and mtDNA dynamics via separate color outputs. By combining mtGLP with structured illumination microscopy to monitor mitochondrial dynamics, we discover the formation of nucleoid condensates in damaged mitochondria. We further reveal that nucleoid condensates promoted the peripheral fission of damaged mitochondria via asymmetric segregation. Through simulations, we find that the peripheral fission events occurred when the nucleoid condensates interacted with the highly curved membrane regions at the two ends of the mitochondria. Overall, we show that mitochondrial nucleoid condensates utilize peripheral fission to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis.
    Keywords:  CP: Cell biology; chemical biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113472
  12. bioRxiv. 2023 Nov 08. pii: 2023.11.06.565907. [Epub ahead of print]
    Determination of Metabolic Fluxes by Deep Learning of Isotope Labeling Patterns.
    Richard C Law, Samantha O'Keeffe, Glenn Nurwono, Rachel Ki, Aliya Lakhani, Pin-Kuang Lai, Junyoung O Park.
      Fluxomics offers a direct readout of metabolic state but relies on indirect measurement. Stable isotope tracers imprint flux-dependent isotope labeling patterns on metabolites we measure; however, the relationship between labeling patterns and fluxes remains elusive. Here we innovate a two-stage machine learning framework termed ML-Flux that streamlines metabolic flux quantitation from isotope tracing. We train machine learning models by simulating atom transitions across five universal metabolic models starting from 26 13 C-glucose, 2 H-glucose, and 13 C-glutamine tracers within feasible flux space. ML-Flux employs deep-learning-based imputation to take variable measurements of labeling patterns as input and successive neural networks to convert the ensuing comprehensive labeling information into metabolic fluxes. Using ML-Flux with multi-isotope tracing, we obtain fluxes through central carbon metabolism that are comparable to those from a least-squares method but orders-of-magnitude faster. ML-Flux is deployed as a webtool to expand the accessibility of metabolic flux quantitation and afford actionable information on metabolism.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.06.565907
  13. Cell Death Dis. 2023 Nov 23. 14(11): 761
    Targeting protein methylation in pancreatic cancer cells results in KRAS signaling imbalance and inhibition of autophagy.
    María F Montenegro, Román Martí-Díaz, Ana Navarro, Jorge Tolivia, Luis Sánchez-Del-Campo, Juan Cabezas-Herrera, José Neptuno Rodríguez-López.
      Pancreatic cancer cells with mutant KRAS require strong basal autophagy for viability and growth. Here, we observed that some processes that allow the maintenance of basal autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells are controlled by protein methylation. Thus, by maintaining the methylation status of proteins such as PP2A and MRAS, these cells can sustain their autophagic activity. Protein methylation disruption by a hypomethylating treatment (HMT), which depletes cellular S-adenosylmethionine levels while inducing S-adenosylhomocysteine accumulation, resulted in autophagy inhibition and endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. We observed that by reducing the membrane localization of MRAS, hypomethylation conditions produced an imbalance in KRAS signaling, resulting in the partial inactivation of ERK and hyperactivation of the PI3K/AKT-mTORC1 pathway. Interestingly, HMT impeded CRAF activation by disrupting the ternary SHOC2 complex (SHOC2/MRAS/PP1), which functions as a CRAF-S259 holophosphatase. The demethylation events that resulted in PP2A inactivation also favored autophagy inhibition by preventing ULK1 activation while restoring the cytoplasmic retention of the MiT/TFE transcription factors. Since autophagy provides pancreatic cancer cells with metabolic plasticity to cope with various metabolic stress conditions, while at the same time promoting their pathogenesis and resistance to KRAS pathway inhibitors, this hypomethylating treatment could represent a therapeutic opportunity for pancreatic adenocarcinomas.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-023-06288-9
  14. Immunol Invest. 2023 Nov 24. 1-14
    Live-Cell Imaging Quantifies Changes in Function and Metabolic NADH Autofluorescence During Macrophage-Mediated Phagocytosis of Tumor Cells.
    Shelby N Bess, Matthew J Igoe, Timothy J Muldoon.
      BACKGROUND: The immune system has evolved to detect foreign antigens and deliver coordinated responses, while minimizing "friendly fire." Until recently, studies investigating the behavior of immune cells were limited to static in vitro measurements. Although static measurements allow for real-time imaging, results are often difficult to translate to an in vivo setting. Multiphoton microscopy is an emerging method to capture spatial information on subcellular events and characterize the local microenvironment. Previous studies have shown that multiphoton microscopy can monitor changes in single-cell macrophage heterogeneity during differentiation. Therefore, there is a need to use multiphoton microscopy to monitor molecular interactions during immunological activities like phagocytosis. Here we investigate the correlation between phagocytic function and changes in endogenous optical reporters during phagocytosis.METHODS: In vitro autofluorescence imaging of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) was used to detect metabolic changes in macrophages during phagocytosis. More specifically, optical redox ratio, mean NADH fluorescence lifetime and ratio of free to protein-bound NADH were used to quantify changes in metabolism.
    RESULTS: Results show that IFN-γ (M1) macrophages showed decreased optical redox ratios and mean NADH lifetime while phagocytosing immunogenic cancer cells compared to metastatic cells. To validate phagocytic function, a fluorescence microscopy-based protocol using a pH-sensitive fluorescent probe was used. Results indicate that M0 and M1 macrophages show similar trends in phagocytic potential.
    CONCLUSION: Overall, this work demonstrates that in vitro multiphoton imaging can be used to longitudinally track changes in phagocytosis and endogenous metabolic cofactors.
    Keywords:  Macrophages; metabolism; phagocytosis; single-cell imaging
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/08820139.2023.2284369
  15. bioRxiv. 2023 Nov 07. pii: 2023.11.07.566074. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial One-Carbon Metabolism is Required for TGF-β-Induced Glycine Synthesis and Collagen Protein Production.
    Angelo Y Meliton, Rengül Cetin-Atalay, Yufeng Tian, Jennifer C Houpy Szafran, Kun Woo D Shin, Takugo Cho, Kaitlyn A Sun, Parker S Woods, Obada R Shamaa, Bohao Chen, Alexander Muir, Gökhan M Mutlu, Robert B Hamanaka.
      A hallmark of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis is the TGF-β-dependent activation of lung fibroblasts, leading to excessive deposition of collagen proteins and progressive scarring. We have previously shown that synthesis of collagen by lung fibroblasts requires de novo synthesis of glycine, the most abundant amino acid in collagen protein. TGF-β upregulates the expression of the enzymes of the de novo serine/glycine synthesis pathway in lung fibroblasts through mTORC1 and ATF4- dependent transcriptional programs. SHMT2, the final enzyme of the de novo serine/glycine synthesis pathway, transfers a one-carbon unit from serine to tetrahydrofolate (THF), producing glycine and 5,10-methylene-THF (meTHF). meTHF is converted back to THF in the mitochondrial one-carbon (1C) pathway through the sequential actions of MTHFD2 (which converts meTHF to 10-formyl-THF), and either MTHFD1L, which produces formate, or ALDH1L2, which produces CO 2 . It is unknown how the mitochondrial 1C pathway contributes to glycine biosynthesis or collagen protein production in fibroblasts, or fibrosis in vivo . Here, we demonstrate that TGF-β induces the expression of MTHFD2 , MTHFD1L , and ALDH1L2 in human lung fibroblasts. MTHFD2 expression was required for TGF-β-induced cellular glycine accumulation and collagen protein production. Combined knockdown of both MTHFD1L and ALDH1L2 also inhibited glycine accumulation and collagen protein production downstream of TGF-β; however knockdown of either protein alone had no inhibitory effect, suggesting that lung fibroblasts can utilize either enzyme to regenerate THF. Pharmacologic inhibition of MTHFD2 recapitulated the effects of MTHFD2 knockdown in lung fibroblasts and ameliorated fibrotic responses after intratracheal bleomycin instillation in vivo . Our results provide insight into the metabolic requirements of lung fibroblasts and provide support for continued development of MTHFD2 inhibitors for the treatment of IPF and other fibrotic diseases.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.07.566074
  16. Metabolites. 2023 Nov 03. pii: 1127. [Epub ahead of print]13(11):
    Differential Expression Analysis Utilizing Condition-Specific Metabolic Pathways.
    Gianluca Mattei, Zhuohui Gan, Matteo Ramazzotti, Bernhard O Palsson, Daniel C Zielinski.
      Pathway analysis is ubiquitous in biological data analysis due to the ability to integrate small simultaneous changes in functionally related components. While pathways are often defined based on either manual curation or network topological properties, an attractive alternative is to generate pathways around specific functions, in which metabolism can be defined as the production and consumption of specific metabolites. In this work, we present an algorithm, termed MetPath, that calculates pathways for condition-specific production and consumption of specific metabolites. We demonstrate that these pathways have several useful properties. Pathways calculated in this manner (1) take into account the condition-specific metabolic role of a gene product, (2) are localized around defined metabolic functions, and (3) quantitatively weigh the importance of expression to a function based on the flux contribution of the gene product. We demonstrate how these pathways elucidate network interactions between genes across different growth conditions and between cell types. Furthermore, the calculated pathways compare favorably to manually curated pathways in predicting the expression correlation between genes. To facilitate the use of these pathways, we have generated a large compendium of pathways under different growth conditions for E. coli. The MetPath algorithm provides a useful tool for metabolic network-based statistical analyses of high-throughput data.
    Keywords:  constraint-based modeling; expression analysis; metabolism; pathway analysis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo13111127
  17. Cell Metab. 2023 Nov 11. pii: S1550-4131(23)00385-6. [Epub ahead of print]
    The tRNA-GCN2-FBXO22-axis-mediated mTOR ubiquitination senses amino acid insufficiency.
    Meng-Kai Ge, Cheng Zhang, Na Zhang, Ping He, Hai-Yan Cai, Song Li, Shuai Wu, Xi-Li Chu, Yu-Xue Zhang, Hong-Ming Ma, Li Xia, Shuo Yang, Jian-Xiu Yu, Shi-Ying Yao, Xiao-Long Zhou, Bing Su, Guo-Qiang Chen, Shao-Ming Shen.
      Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) monitors cellular amino acid changes for function, but the molecular mediators of this process remain to be fully defined. Here, we report that depletion of cellular amino acids, either alone or in combination, leads to the ubiquitination of mTOR, which inhibits mTORC1 kinase activity by preventing substrate recruitment. Mechanistically, amino acid depletion causes accumulation of uncharged tRNAs, thereby stimulating GCN2 to phosphorylate FBXO22, which in turn accrues in the cytoplasm and ubiquitinates mTOR at Lys2066 in a K27-linked manner. Accordingly, mutation of mTOR Lys2066 abolished mTOR ubiquitination in response to amino acid depletion, rendering mTOR insensitive to amino acid starvation both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, these data reveal a novel mechanism of amino acid sensing by mTORC1 via a previously unknown GCN2-FBXO22-mTOR pathway that is uniquely controlled by uncharged tRNAs.
    Keywords:  FBXO22; GCN2; amino acids; mTOR; mTORC1; ubiquitination; uncharged tRNA
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2023.10.016
  18. Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 21. 14(1): 7599
    A distinct Acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP6) shapes tissue plasticity during nutrient adaptation in Drosophila.
    Xiaotong Li, Jason Karpac.
      Nutrient availability is a major selective force in the evolution of metazoa, and thus plasticity in tissue function and morphology is shaped by adaptive responses to nutrient changes. Utilizing Drosophila, we reveal that distinct calibration of acyl-CoA metabolism, mediated by Acbp6 (Acyl-CoA binding-protein 6), is critical for nutrient-dependent tissue plasticity. Drosophila Acbp6, which arose by evolutionary duplication and binds acyl-CoA to tune acetyl-CoA metabolism, is required for intestinal resizing after nutrient deprivation through activating intestinal stem cell proliferation from quiescence. Disruption of acyl-CoA metabolism by Acbp6 attenuation drives aberrant 'switching' of metabolic networks in intestinal enterocytes during nutrient adaptation, impairing acetyl-CoA metabolism and acetylation amid intestinal resizing. We also identified STAT92e, whose function is influenced by acetyl-CoA levels, as a key regulator of acyl-CoA and nutrient-dependent changes in stem cell activation. These findings define a regulatory mechanism, shaped by acyl-CoA metabolism, that adjusts proliferative homeostasis to coordinately regulate tissue plasticity during nutrient adaptation.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43362-4
  19. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2023 Nov 22. pii: zbad165. [Epub ahead of print]
    Regulations and functions of proline utilization in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
    Akira Nishimura.
      The quality of alcoholic beverages strongly depends on the metabolic characteristics of the yeast cells being used. To control the aroma and taste of alcoholic beverages, as well as the production of ethanol in them, it is thus crucial to select yeast cells with the proper characteristics. Grape must contains a high concentration of proline, an amino acid that can potentially be a useful nitrogen source. However, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot utilize proline during the wine-making process, resulting in elevated levels of proline in wine and consequent negative effects on wine quality. In this article, I review and discuss recent discoveries about the inhibitory mechanisms and roles of proline utilization in yeast. The information can help in developing novel yeast strains that can improve fermentation and enhance the quality and production efficiency of wine.
    Keywords:   Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; arginine transporter; basic amino acids; proline utilization; protein kinase A
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/bbb/zbad165
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