bims-imseme Biomed News
on Immunosenescence and T cell metabolism
Issue of 2022‒05‒29
seven papers selected by
Pierpaolo Ginefra
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
  1. Fatty Acid Metabolism and T Cells in Multiple Sclerosis.
  2. Functional assessment of the cell-autonomous role of NADase CD38 in regulating CD8+ T cell exhaustion.
  3. The LRRC8C-STING-p53 axis in T cells: A Ca2+ affair.
  4. Non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway controls regulatory T cell function by integrating metabolism and epigenetics.
  5. Long-term consumption of green tea EGCG enhances murine healthspan by mitigating multiple aspects of cellular senescence in mitotic and post-mitotic tissues, gut dysbiosis, and immunosenescence.
  6. PARK7/DJ-1 promotes pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and maintains Treg homeostasis during ageing.
  7. O-GlcNAc modification of leucyl-tRNA synthetase 1 integrates leucine and glucose availability to regulate mTORC1 and the metabolic fate of leucine.
  1. Front Immunol. 2022 ;13 869197
    Fatty Acid Metabolism and T Cells in Multiple Sclerosis.
    Saige L Pompura, David A Hafler, Margarita Dominguez-Villar.
      Cellular metabolic remodeling is intrinsically linked to the development, activation, differentiation, function, and survival of T cells. T cells transition from a catabolic, naïve state to an anabolic effector state upon T cell activation. Subsequently, specialization of T cells into T helper (Th) subsets, including regulatory T cells (Treg), requires fine-tuning of metabolic programs that better support and optimize T cell functions for that particular environment. Increasingly, studies have shown that changes in nutrient availability at both the cellular and organismal level during disease states can alter T cell function, highlighting the importance of better characterizing metabolic-immune axes in both physiological and disease settings. In support of these data, a growing body of evidence is emerging that shows specific lipid species are capable of altering the inflammatory functional phenotypes of T cells. In this review we summarize the metabolic programs shown to support naïve and effector T cells, and those driving Th subsets. We then discuss changes to lipid profiles in patients with multiple sclerosis, and focus on how the presence of specific lipid species can alter cellular metabolism and function of T cells.
    Keywords:  T cell; T regulatory (Treg) cell; fatty acids; immunometabolism; multiple sclerosis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.869197
  2. iScience. 2022 May 20. 25(5): 104347
    Functional assessment of the cell-autonomous role of NADase CD38 in regulating CD8+ T cell exhaustion.
    Kaili Ma, Lina Sun, Mingjing Shen, Xin Zhang, Zhen Xiao, Jiajia Wang, Xiaowei Liu, Kanqiu Jiang, F Xiao-Feng Qin, Feng Guo, Baojun Zhang, Lianjun Zhang.
      Exhausted CD8+ T cells with limited effector functions and high expression of multiple co-inhibitory receptors are one of the main barriers hindering antitumor immunity. The NADase CD38 has received considerable attention as a biomarker of CD8+ T cell exhaustion, but it remains unclear whether the increased CD38 directly promotes T cell dysfunctionality. Here, we surprisingly found that although Cd38 deficiency partially reverses NAD+ degradation and T cell dysfunction in vitro, the terminal exhausted differentiation of adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells in tumor is not impacted by either deficiency or overexpression of CD38. Monitoring the dynamic NAD+ levels shows that NAD+ levels are comparable between tumor infiltrated WT and Cd38 -/- OT-1 cells. Therefore, our results suggest that decreased NAD+ are correlated with T cell dysfunction, but deficiency of CD38 is not enough for rescuing NAD+ in tumor infiltrated CD8+ T cells and fails to increase the efficacy of antitumor T cell therapy.
    Keywords:  Cancer; Cell biology; Immunology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.104347
  3. Cell Calcium. 2022 May 13. pii: S0143-4160(22)00070-7. [Epub ahead of print]105 102596
    The LRRC8C-STING-p53 axis in T cells: A Ca2+ affair.
    Sonia Missiroli, Carlotta Giorgi, Paolo Pinton.
      Up to now, no role has been associated with VRAC channels in T cells. In a recent paper published in Nature Immunology, LRRC8C has been described as an essential component of VRAC in T cells. These data raise the intriguing possibility that the LRRC8C-STING-p53 signaling axis may represent a new inhibitory pathway in T cells that controls their function and adaptive immunity.
    Keywords:  LRRC8C; SOCE; p53
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceca.2022.102596
  4. Nat Metab. 2022 May 23.
    Non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway controls regulatory T cell function by integrating metabolism and epigenetics.
    Qi Liu, Fangming Zhu, Xinnan Liu, Ying Lu, Ke Yao, Na Tian, Lingfeng Tong, David A Figge, Xiuwen Wang, Yichao Han, Yakui Li, Yemin Zhu, Lei Hu, Yingning Ji, Nannan Xu, Dan Li, Xiaochuan Gu, Rui Liang, Guifang Gan, Lifang Wu, Ping Zhang, Tianle Xu, Hui Hu, Zeping Hu, Huji Xu, Dan Ye, Hui Yang, Bin Li, Xuemei Tong.
      Regulatory T (Treg) cells are critical for maintaining immune homeostasis and preventing autoimmunity. Here, we show that the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) regulates Treg function to prevent autoimmunity. Deletion of transketolase (TKT), an indispensable enzyme of non-oxidative PPP, in Treg cells causes a fatal autoimmune disease in mice, with impaired Treg suppressive capability despite regular Treg numbers and normal Foxp3 expression levels. Mechanistically, reduced glycolysis and enhanced oxidative stress induced by TKT deficiency triggers excessive fatty acid and amino acid catabolism, resulting in uncontrolled oxidative phosphorylation and impaired mitochondrial fitness. Reduced α-KG levels as a result of reductive TCA cycle activity leads to DNA hypermethylation, thereby limiting functional gene expression and suppressive activity of TKT-deficient Treg cells. We also find that TKT levels are frequently downregulated in Treg cells of people with autoimmune disorders. Our study identifies the non-oxidative PPP as an integrator of metabolic and epigenetic processes that control Treg function.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00575-z
  5. J Nutr Biochem. 2022 May 23. pii: S0955-2863(22)00139-5. [Epub ahead of print] 109068
    Long-term consumption of green tea EGCG enhances murine healthspan by mitigating multiple aspects of cellular senescence in mitotic and post-mitotic tissues, gut dysbiosis, and immunosenescence.
    Rohit Sharma, Ravi Kumar, Anamika Sharma, Abhishek Goel, Yogendra Padwad.
      Cellular senescence is emerging as a major hallmark of aging, and its modulation presents an effective anti-aging strategy. This study attempted to understand the progression of cellular senescence in vivo, and whether it can be mitigated by chronic consumption of green tea catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). We profiled cellular senescence in various organs of mice at four different time-points of lifespan, and then explored the influence of EGCG consumption in impacting markers of cellular senescence, inflamm-aging, immunosenescence, and gut dysbiosis. We report that visceral adipose and intestinal tissues are highly vulnerable to cellular senescence due to an increase in DNA damage response, activation of cell cycle inhibitors, and SASP regulators. With advancing age, dysregulation in nutrient signaling mediators (AMPK/AKT/SIRT3/5), and a decrease in autophagy was also observed. Inflamm-aging markers (TNF-α/IL-1β) and splenic CD4/CD8 T cell ratio increased with age, while NK cell population decreased. Metagenomic analyses revealed an age-related decrease in the diversity of microbial species and an increase in the abundance of various pathogenic bacterial species. On the other hand, long-term EGCG consumption significantly attenuated markers of DNA damage, cell cycle inhibitors, SASP regulators, AMPK/AKT signaling, and enhanced SIRT3/5 expression and autophagy. Systemic inflamm-aging indicators decreased, while early T cell activation increased in EGCG fed animals. EGCG also suppressed the abundance of pathogenic bacteria and preserved microbial diversity. Our results suggest that adipose and intestine tissues are prone to cellular senescence and that chronic consumption of EGCG can attenuate several deleterious aspects of aging which could be implicated in developing anti-aging strategies.
    Keywords:  Autophagy; EGCG; Microbiota; Nutrient signaling; SASP; Senescence
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2022.109068
  6. Nat Metab. 2022 May 26.
    PARK7/DJ-1 promotes pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and maintains Treg homeostasis during ageing.
    Egle Danileviciute, Ni Zeng, Christophe M Capelle, Nicole Paczia, Mark A Gillespie, Henry Kurniawan, Mohaned Benzarti, Myriam P Merz, Djalil Coowar, Sabrina Fritah, Daniela Maria Vogt Weisenhorn, Gemma Gomez Giro, Melanie Grusdat, Alexandre Baron, Coralie Guerin, Davide G Franchina, Cathy Léonard, Olivia Domingues, Sylvie Delhalle, Wolfgang Wurst, Jonathan D Turner, Jens Christian Schwamborn, Johannes Meiser, Rejko Krüger, Jeff Ranish, Dirk Brenner, Carole L Linster, Rudi Balling, Markus Ollert, Feng Q Hefeng.
      Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) is the gatekeeper enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Here we show that the deglycase DJ-1 (encoded by PARK7, a key familial Parkinson's disease gene) is a pacemaker regulating PDH activity in CD4+ regulatory T cells (Treg cells). DJ-1 binds to PDHE1-β (PDHB), inhibiting phosphorylation of PDHE1-α (PDHA), thus promoting PDH activity and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Park7 (Dj-1) deletion impairs Treg survival starting in young mice and reduces Treg homeostatic proliferation and cellularity only in aged mice. This leads to increased severity in aged mice during the remission of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Dj-1 deletion also compromises differentiation of inducible Treg cells especially in aged mice, and the impairment occurs via regulation of PDHB. These findings provide unforeseen insight into the complicated regulatory machinery of the PDH complex. As Treg homeostasis is dysregulated in many complex diseases, the DJ-1-PDHB axis represents a potential target to maintain or re-establish Treg homeostasis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00576-y
  7. Nat Commun. 2022 May 25. 13(1): 2904
    O-GlcNAc modification of leucyl-tRNA synthetase 1 integrates leucine and glucose availability to regulate mTORC1 and the metabolic fate of leucine.
    Kibum Kim, Hee Chan Yoo, Byung Gyu Kim, Sulhee Kim, Yulseung Sung, Ina Yoon, Ya Chun Yu, Seung Joon Park, Jong Hyun Kim, Kyungjae Myung, Kwang Yeon Hwang, Sunghoon Kim, Jung Min Han.
      All living organisms have the ability to sense nutrient levels to coordinate cellular metabolism. Despite the importance of nutrient-sensing pathways that detect the levels of amino acids and glucose, how the availability of these two types of nutrients is integrated is unclear. Here, we show that glucose availability regulates the central nutrient effector mTORC1 through intracellular leucine sensor leucyl-tRNA synthetase 1 (LARS1). Glucose starvation results in O-GlcNAcylation of LARS1 on residue S1042. This modification inhibits the interaction of LARS1 with RagD GTPase and reduces the affinity of LARS1 for leucine by promoting phosphorylation of its leucine-binding site by the autophagy-activating kinase ULK1, decreasing mTORC1 activity. The lack of LARS1 O-GlcNAcylation constitutively activates mTORC1, supporting its ability to sense leucine, and deregulates protein synthesis and leucine catabolism under glucose starvation. This work demonstrates that LARS1 integrates leucine and glucose availability to regulate mTORC1 and the metabolic fate of leucine.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30696-8
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