bims-glecem 2022-01-23 papers

bims-glecem

Biomed News

on Glycogen metabolism in exercise, cancer and energy metabolism

Issue of 2022‒01‒23
six papers selected by
Dipsikha Biswas, Københavns Universitet

Accumulation of Glycogen and Upregulation of LEA-1 in C. elegans daf-2(e1370) Support Stress Resistance, Not Longevity.
Isonitrogenous low-carbohydrate diet elicits specific changes in metabolic gene expression in the skeletal muscle of exercise-trained mice.
Deciphering the evolution of composite-type GSKIP in mitochondria and Wnt signaling pathways.
Metabolomic Analysis of Carbohydrate and Amino Acid Changes Induced by Hypoxia in Naked Mole-Rat Brain and Liver.
Anti-Inflammatory Effect of IKK-Activated GSK-3β Inhibitory Peptide Prevented Nigrostriatal Neurodegeneration in the Rodent Model of Parkinson's Disease.
Pcyt2 deficiency causes age-dependant development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and insulin resistance that could be attenuated with phosphoethanolamine.

Cells. 2022 Jan 12. pii: 245. [Epub ahead of print]11(2):

Accumulation of Glycogen and Upregulation of LEA-1 in C. elegans daf-2(e1370) Support Stress Resistance, Not Longevity.

Aleksandra Zečić, Ineke Dhondt, Bart P Braeckman.

  DAF-16-dependent activation of a dauer-associated genetic program in the C. elegans insulin/IGF-1 daf-2(e1370) mutant leads to accumulation of large amounts of glycogen with concomitant upregulation of glycogen synthase, GSY-1. Glycogen is a major storage sugar in C. elegans that can be used as a short-term energy source for survival, and possibly as a reservoir for synthesis of a chemical chaperone trehalose. Its role in mitigating anoxia, osmotic and oxidative stress has been demonstrated previously. Furthermore, daf-2 mutants show increased abundance of the group 3 late embryogenesis abundant protein LEA-1, which has been found to act in synergy with trehalose to exert its protective role against desiccation and heat stress in vitro, and to be essential for desiccation tolerance in C. elegans dauer larvae. Here we demonstrate that accumulated glycogen is not required for daf-2 longevity, but specifically protects against hyperosmotic stress, and serves as an important energy source during starvation. Similarly, lea-1 does not act to support daf-2 longevity. Instead, it contributes to increased resistance of daf-2 mutants to heat, osmotic, and UV stress. In summary, our experimental results suggest that longevity and stress resistance can be uncoupled in IIS longevity mutants.

Keywords:  C. elegans; LEA-1; daf-2(e1370); glycogen; insulin/IGF-1; longevity; stress resistance

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11020245
PLoS One. 2022 ;17(1): e0262875

Isonitrogenous low-carbohydrate diet elicits specific changes in metabolic gene expression in the skeletal muscle of exercise-trained mice.

Hazuki Saito, Naoko Wada, Kaoruko Iida.

With the renewed interest in low-carbohydrate diets (LCDs) in the sports field, a few animal studies have investigated their potential. However, most rodent studies have used an LCD containing low protein, which does not recapitulate a human LCD, and the muscle-specific adaptation in response to an LCD remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of two types of LCDs, both containing the same proportion of protein as a regular diet (isonitrogenous LCD; INLCD), on body composition, exercise performance, and metabolic fuel selection at the genetic level in the skeletal muscles of exercise-trained mice. Three groups of mice (n = 8 in each group), one fed a regular AIN-93G diet served as the control, and the others fed either of the two INLCDs containing 20% protein and 10% carbohydrate (INLCD-10%) or 20% protein and 1% carbohydrate (INLCD-1%) had a regular exercise load (5 times/week) for 12 weeks. Body weight and muscle mass did not decrease in either of the INLCD-fed groups, and the muscle glycogen levels and endurance capacity did not differ among the three groups. Only in the mice fed INLCD-1% did the plasma ketone concentration significantly increase, and gene expression related to glucose utilization significantly declined in the muscles. Both INLCD-1% and INLCD-10% consumption increased gene expression related to lipid utilization. These results suggest that, although INLCD treatment did not affect endurance capacity, it helped maintain muscle mass and glycogen content regardless of the glucose intake restrictions in trained mice. Moreover, an INLCD containing a low carbohydrate content might present an advantage by increasing lipid oxidation without ketosis and suppressing muscle glucose utilization.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262875
PLoS One. 2022 ;17(1): e0262138

Deciphering the evolution of composite-type GSKIP in mitochondria and Wnt signaling pathways.

Cheng-Yu Tsai, Shean-Jaw Chiou, Huey-Jiun Ko, Yu-Fan Cheng, Sin-Yi Lin, Yun-Ling Lai, Chen-Yen Lin, Chihuei Wang, Jiin-Tsuey Cheng, Hsin-Fu Liu, Aij-Li Kwan, Joon-Khim Loh, Yi-Ren Hong.

We previously revealed the origin of mammalian simple-type glycogen synthase kinase interaction protein (GSKIP), which served as a scavenger and a competitor in the Wnt signaling pathway during evolution. In this study, we investigated the conserved and nonconserved regions of the composite-type GSKIP by utilizing bioinformatics tools, site-directed mutagenesis, and yeast two-hybrid methods. The regions were denoted as the pre-GSK3β binding site, which is located at the front of GSK3β-binding sites. Our data demonstrated that clustered mitochondria protein 1 (CLU1), a type of composite-type GSKIP that exists in the mitochondria of all eukaryotic organisms, possesses the protein known as domain of unknown function 727 (DUF727), with a pre-GSK3β-binding site and a mutant GSK3β-binding flanking region. Another type of composite-type GSKIP, armadillo repeat containing 4 (ARMC4), which is known for cilium movement in vertebrates, contains an unintegrated DUF727 flanking region with a pre-GSK3β-binding site (115SPxF118) only. In addition, the sequence of the GSK3β-binding site in CLU1 revealed that Q126L and V130L were not conserved, differing from the ideal GSK3β-binding sequence of simple-type GSKIP. We further illustrated two exceptions, namely 70 kilodalton heat shock proteins (Hsp70/DnaK) and Mitofilin in nematodes, that presented an unexpected ideal GSK3β-binding region with a pre-GSK3β sequence; this composite-type GSKIP could only occur in vertebrate species. Furthermore, we revealed the importance of the pre-GSK3β-binding site (118F or 118Y) and various mutant GSK3β-binding sites of composite-type GSKIP. Collectively, our data suggest that the new composite-type GSKIP starts with a DUF727 domain followed by a pre-GSK3β-binding site, with the subsequent addition of the GSK3β-binding site, which plays vital roles for CLU1, Mitofilin, and ARMC4 in mitochondria and Wnt signaling pathways during evolution.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262138
Metabolites. 2022 Jan 10. pii: 56. [Epub ahead of print]12(1):

Metabolomic Analysis of Carbohydrate and Amino Acid Changes Induced by Hypoxia in Naked Mole-Rat Brain and Liver.

Hang Cheng, Yiming Amy Qin, Rashpal Dhillon, James Dowell, John M Denu, Matthew E Pamenter.

  Hypoxia poses a major physiological challenge for mammals and has significant impacts on cellular and systemic metabolism. As with many other small rodents, naked mole-rats (NMRs; Heterocephalus glaber), who are among the most hypoxia-tolerant mammals, respond to hypoxia by supressing energy demand (i.e., through a reduction in metabolic rate mediated by a variety of cell- and tissue-level strategies), and altering metabolic fuel use to rely primarily on carbohydrates. However, little is known regarding specific metabolite changes that underlie these responses. We hypothesized that NMR tissues utilize multiple strategies in responding to acute hypoxia, including the modulation of signalling pathways to reduce anabolism and reprogram carbohydrate metabolism. To address this question, we evaluated changes of 64 metabolites in NMR brain and liver following in vivo hypoxia exposure (7% O2, 4 h). We also examined changes in matched tissues from similarly treated hypoxia-intolerant mice. We report that, following exposure to in vivo hypoxia: (1) phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan anabolism are supressed both in NMR brain and liver; (2) carbohydrate metabolism is reprogramed in NMR brain and liver, but in a divergent manner; (3) redox state is significantly altered in NMR brain; and (4) the AMP/ATP ratio is elevated in liver. Overall, our results suggest that hypoxia induces significant metabolic remodelling in NMR brain and liver via alterations of multiple metabolic pathways.

Keywords:  AMP; aspartic acid; coenzyme; dopamine; glutamate; glutamine; glutathione; glycogen; pentose phosphate pathway

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12010056
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jan 17. pii: 998. [Epub ahead of print]23(2):

Anti-Inflammatory Effect of IKK-Activated GSK-3β Inhibitory Peptide Prevented Nigrostriatal Neurodegeneration in the Rodent Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Seulah Lee, Dong Geun Hong, Seonguk Yang, Jaehoon Kim, Minwoo Baek, Seoyeong Kim, Dinakaran Thirumalai, Hae Young Chung, Seung-Cheol Chang, Jaewon Lee.

  Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive movement disorder caused by nigrostriatal neurodegeneration. Since chronically activated neuroinflammation accelerates neurodegeneration in PD, we considered that modulating chronic neuroinflammatory response might provide a novel therapeutic approach. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) is a multifunctional serine/threonine protein kinase with two isoforms, GSK-3α and GSK-3β, and GSK-3β plays crucial roles in inflammatory response, which include microglial migration and peripheral immune cell activation. GSK-3β inhibitory peptide (IAGIP) is specifically activated by activated inhibitory kappa B kinase (IKK), and its therapeutic effects have been demonstrated in a mouse model of colitis. Here, we investigated whether the anti-inflammatory effects of IAGIP prevent neurodegeneration in the rodent model of PD. IAGIP significantly reduced MPP+-induced astrocyte activation and inflammatory response in primary astrocytes without affecting the phosphorylations of ERK or JNK. In addition, IAGIP inhibited LPS-induced cell migration and p65 activation in BV-2 microglial cells. In vivo study using an MPTP-induced mouse model of PD revealed that intravenous IAGIP effectively prevented motor dysfunction and nigrostriatal neurodegeneration. Our findings suggest that IAGIP has a curative potential in PD models and could offer new therapeutic possibilities for targeting PD.

Keywords:  1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; Parkinson’s disease; anti-inflammation; inhibitory κB kinase-activated GSK-3β inhibitory peptide; neuroinflammation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23020998
Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 20. 12(1): 1048

Pcyt2 deficiency causes age-dependant development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and insulin resistance that could be attenuated with phosphoethanolamine.

Sophie Grapentine, Rathnesh K Singh, Poulami Basu, Sugashan Sivanesan, Gabriela Mattos, Oreoluwa Oresajo, Jasmine Cheema, Wendwesen Demeke, Vernon W Dolinsky, Marica Bakovic.

The mechanisms of NASH development in the context of age and genetics are not fully elucidated. This study investigates the age-dependent liver defects during NASH development in mice with heterozygous deletion of Pcyt2 (Pcyt2+/-), the rate limiting enzyme in phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) synthesis. Further, the therapeutic potential of Pcyt2 substrate, phosphoethanolamine (PEtn), is examined. Pcyt2+/- were investigated at 2 and 6-8 months (mo) of age and in addition, 6-mo old Pcyt2+/- with developed NASH were supplemented with PEtn for 8 weeks and glucose and fatty acid metabolism, insulin signaling, and inflammation were examined. Heterozygous ablation of Pcyt2 causes changes in liver metabolic regulators from young age, prior to the development of liver disease which does not occur until adulthood. Only older Pcyt2+/- experiences perturbed glucose and fatty acid metabolism. Older Pcyt2+/- liver develops NASH characterized by increased glucose production, accumulation of TAG and glycogen, and increased inflammation. Supplementation with PEtn reverses Pcyt2+/- steatosis, inflammation, and other aspects of NASH, showing that was directly caused by Pcyt2 deficiency. Pcyt2 deficiency is a novel mechanism of metabolic dysregulation due to reduced membrane ethanolamine phospholipid synthesis, and the metabolite PEtn offers therapeutic potential for NASH reversion.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05140-y