bims-mascan Biomed News
on Mass spectrometry in cancer research
Issue of 2019–05–05
fifty-two papers selected by
Giovanny Rodríguez Blanco, The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research
  1. Functional Assessment of Lipoyltransferase-1 Deficiency in Cells, Mice, and Humans.
  2. Metabolic perturbations caused by depletion of nephronophthisis factor Anks6 in mIMCD3 cells.
  3. Assessing the effect of nitisinone induced hypertyrosinaemia on monoamine neurotransmitters in brain tissue from a murine model of alkaptonuria using mass spectrometry imaging.
  4. The quantitative relationship between isotopic and net contributions of lactate and glucose to the TCA cycle.
  5. A combination of omega-3 and plant sterols regulate glucose and lipid metabolism in individuals with impaired glucose regulation: a randomized and controlled clinical trial.
  6. Development and application of a high throughput one-pot extraction protocol for quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis of phospholipids in serum and lipoprotein fractions in normolipidemic and dyslipidemic subjects.
  7. Combination of Hypoglycemia and Metformin Impairs Tumor Metabolic Plasticity and Growth by Modulating the PP2A-GSK3β-MCL-1 Axis.
  8. Dual inhibition of glutaminase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase decreases growth and migration of glutaminase inhibition-resistant triple-negative breast cancer cells.
  9. A dynamic model-based preparation of uniformly-13C-labeled internal standards facilitates quantitative metabolomics analysis of Penicillium chrysogenum.
  10. Evidence by GC-MS that lysine is an arginase-catalyzed metabolite of homoarginine in vitro and in vivo in humans.
  11. Metabolite Changes in Maternal and Fetal Plasma Following Spontaneous Labour at Term in Humans Using Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis: A Pilot Study.
  12. Regulation of succinate dehydrogenase and role of succinate in cancer.
  13. Human COQ10A and COQ10B are distinct lipid-binding START domain proteins required for coenzyme Q function.
  14. TGF-β2 is an exercise-induced adipokine that regulates glucose and fatty acid metabolism.
  15. Challenges in Mass Spectrometry-based Lipidomics of Neutral Lipids.
  16. Computational solutions in redox lipidomics - Current strategies and future perspectives.
  17. Glutamine as an Essential Amino Acid for KRas-Driven Cancer Cells.
  18. Unraveling altered RNA metabolism in pancreatic cancer cells by liquid-chromatography coupling to ion mobility mass spectrometry.
  19. Multi-Omics Analyses Detail Metabolic Reprogramming in Lipids, Carnitines, and Use of Glycolytic Intermediates between Prostate Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma and Prostate Adenocarcinoma.
  20. The importance of methionine metabolism.
  21. A FATal Combination: Fibroblast-Derived Lipids and Cancer-Derived Autotaxin Promote Pancreatic Cancer Growth.
  22. Software tool for internal standard based normalization of lipids, and effect of data-processing strategies on resulting values.
  23. Identification and Quantification of Proteoforms by Mass Spectrometry.
  24. Protective Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Cancer-Related Complications.
  25. Proteomics reveals NNMT as a master metabolic regulator of cancer-associated fibroblasts.
  26. Unappreciated Role of LDHA and LDHB to Control Apoptosis and Autophagy in Tumor Cells.
  27. Rapid Prediction of Electron-Ionization Mass Spectrometry Using Neural Networks.
  28. Online porous graphic carbon chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for post-translational modification analysis.
  29. Targeting cancer cell metabolism in glioblastoma.
  30. Identification of PRDX6 as a regulator of ferroptosis.
  31. Exploring Regulation of Protein O-Glycosylation in Isogenic Human HEK293 Cells by Differential O-Glycoproteomics.
  32. The Effect of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on the Production of Cyclooxygenase and Lipoxygenase Metabolites by Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.
  33. Exosomes in cancer development, metastasis, and immunity.
  34. Coupling Krebs cycle metabolites to signalling in immunity and cancer.
  35. Using Pathway Covering to Explore Connections among Metabolites.
  36. Anaerobic Glycolysis Maintains the Glomerular Filtration Barrier Independent of Mitochondrial Metabolism and Dynamics.
  37. Cholesterol Trafficking: An Emerging Therapeutic Target for Angiogenesis and Cancer.
  38. Alterations in folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism as colon cell transition from normal to cancerous.
  39. Stratification of cancer and diabetes based on circulating levels of formate and glucose.
  40. Peptidomics and Proteomics based on CE-MS as a robust tool in clinical application: The past, the present, and the future.
  41. A multiplex liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of seven therapeutic monoclonal antibodies: Application for adalimumab therapeutic drug monitoring in patients with Crohn's disease.
  42. ANNALS EXPRESS: A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for the profiling of classical and 11-oxygenated androgens in saliva.
  43. NAD Metabolic Dependency Determines Therapeutic Sensitivity in Cancer.
  44. The interactome of a family of potential methyltransferases in HeLa cells.
  45. Metabolic reprogramming of cancer by chemicals that target glutaminase isoenzymes.
  46. Research Evidence on High-Fat Diet-Induced Prostate Cancer Development and Progression.
  47. Amino acid response by Halofuginone in Cancer cells triggers autophagy through proteasome degradation of mTOR.
  48. High-Throughput Nanoelectrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Microfluidic Droplet Samples.
  49. Comprehensive Serum Glycopeptide Spectra Analysis (CSGSA): A Potential New Tool for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer.
  50. An integrated genomic and metabolomic approach for defining survival time in adult oligodendrogliomas patients.
  51. Cholesterol Induces CD8+ T Cell Exhaustion in the Tumor Microenvironment.
  52. Metabolic Checkpoint of Immune Cells in Melanoma Brain Metastases.
  1. Cell Rep. 2019 Apr 30. pii: S2211-1247(19)30460-7. [Epub ahead of print]27(5): 1376-1386.e6
    Functional Assessment of Lipoyltransferase-1 Deficiency in Cells, Mice, and Humans.
    Min Ni, Ashley Solmonson, Chunxiao Pan, Chendong Yang, Dan Li, Ashley Notzon, Ling Cai, Gerardo Guevara, Lauren G Zacharias, Brandon Faubert, Hieu S Vu, Lei Jiang, Bookyung Ko, Noriko Merida Morales, Jimin Pei, Gonçalo Vale, Dinesh Rakheja, Nick V Grishin, Jeffrey G McDonald, Garrett K Gotway, Markey C McNutt, Juan M Pascual, Ralph J DeBerardinis.
      Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) link metabolic defects to human phenotypes. Modern genomics has accelerated IEM discovery, but assessing the impact of genomic variants is still challenging. Here, we integrate genomics and metabolomics to identify a cause of lactic acidosis and epilepsy. The proband is a compound heterozygote for variants in LIPT1, which encodes the lipoyltransferase required for 2-ketoacid dehydrogenase (2KDH) function. Metabolomics reveals abnormalities in lipids, amino acids, and 2-hydroxyglutarate consistent with loss of multiple 2KDHs. Homozygous knockin of a LIPT1 mutation reduces 2KDH lipoylation in utero and results in embryonic demise. In patient fibroblasts, defective 2KDH lipoylation and function are corrected by wild-type, but not mutant, LIPT1 alleles. Isotope tracing reveals that LIPT1 supports lipogenesis and balances oxidative and reductive glutamine metabolism. Altogether, the data extend the role of LIPT1 in metabolic regulation and demonstrate how integrating genomics and metabolomics can uncover broader aspects of IEM pathophysiology.
    Keywords:  2-ketoacid dehydrogenase; epilepsy,developmental delay; fatty acid oxidation; genomics; inborn errors of metabolism; lactic acidosis; lipogenesis; lipoylation; metabolomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.005
  2. Metabolomics. 2019 Apr 30. 15(5): 71
    Metabolic perturbations caused by depletion of nephronophthisis factor Anks6 in mIMCD3 cells.
    Manuel Schlimpert, Simon Lagies, Barbara Müller, Vadym Budnyk, Kelly Daryll Blanz, Gerd Walz, Bernd Kammerer.
       INTRODUCTION: Nephronophthisis (NPH) is an inherited form of cystic kidney disease with various extrarenal manifestations accounting for the largest amount of endstage renal disease in childhood. Patient mutations of Anks6 have also been found to cause NPH like phenotypes in animal models. However, little is known about functionality of Anks6.
    OBJECTIVES/METHODS: We investigated the impact of Anks6 depletion on cellular metabolism of inner medullary collecting duct cells by GC-MS profiling and targeted LC-MS/MS analysis using two different shRNA cell lines for tetracycline-inducible Anks6 downregulation, namely mIMCD3 krab shANKS6 i52 and mIMCD3 krab shANKS6 i12.
    RESULTS: In combination, we could successfully identify 158 metabolites of which 20 compounds showed similar alterations in both knockdown systems. Especially, large neutral amino acids, such as phenylalanine, where found to be significantly downregulated indicating disturbances in amino acid metabolism. Arginine, lysine and spermidine, which play an important role in cell survival and proliferation, were found to be downregulated. Accordingly, cell growth was diminished in tet treated mIMCD3 krab shANKS6 i52 knockdown cells. Deoxynucleosides were significantly downregulated in both knockdown systems. Hence, PARP1 levels were increased in tet treated mIMCD3 krab shANKS6 i52 cells, but not in tet treated mIMCD3 krab shANKS6 i12 cells. However, yH2AX was found to be increased in the latter.
    CONCLUSION: In combination, we hypothesise that Anks6 affects DNA damage responses and proliferation and plays a crucial role in physiological amino acid and purine/pyrimidine metabolism.
    Keywords:  Anks6; Cystic kidney disease; GC–MS; LC–MS/MS; Metabolomics; Nephronophthisis; SamCystin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-019-1535-0
  3. Metabolomics. 2019 Apr 29. 15(5): 68
    Assessing the effect of nitisinone induced hypertyrosinaemia on monoamine neurotransmitters in brain tissue from a murine model of alkaptonuria using mass spectrometry imaging.
    Andrew S Davison, N Strittmatter, H Sutherland, A T Hughes, J Hughes, G Bou-Gharios, A M Milan, R J A Goodwin, L R Ranganath, J A Gallagher.
       OBJECTIVE: Nitisinone induced hypertyrosinaemia is a concern in patients with Alkaptonuria (AKU). It has been suggested that this may alter neurotransmitter metabolism, specifically dopamine and serotonin. Herein mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is used for the direct measurement of 2,4-diphenyl-pyranylium tetrafluoroborate (DPP-TFB) derivatives of monoamine neurotransmitters in brain tissue from a murine model of AKU following treatment with nitisinone.
    METHODS: Metabolite changes were assessed using MSI on DPP-TFB derivatised fresh frozen tissue sections directing analysis towards primary amine neurotransmitters. Matched tail bleed plasma samples were analysed using LC-MS/MS. Eighteen BALB/c mice were included in this study: HGD-/- (n = 6, treated with nitisinone-4 mg/L, in drinking water); HGD-/- (n = 6, no treatment) and HGD+/- (n = 6, no treatment).
    RESULTS: Ion intensity and distribution of DPP-TFB derivatives in brain tissue for dopamine, 3-methoxytyramine, noradrenaline, tryptophan, serotonin, and glutamate were not significantly different following treatment with nitisinone in HGD -/- mice, and no significant differences were observed between HGD-/- and HGD+/- mice that received no treatment. Tyrosine (10-fold in both comparisons, p = 0.003; [BALB/c HGD-/- (n = 6) and BALB/c HGD+/- (n = 6) (no treatment) vs. BALB/c HGD-/- (n = 6, treated)] and tyramine (25-fold, p = 0.02; 32-fold, p = 0.02) increased significantly following treatment with nitisinone. Plasma tyrosine and homogentisic acid increased (ninefold, p = < 0.0001) and decreased (ninefold, p = 0.004), respectively in HGD-/- mice treated with nitisinone.
    CONCLUSIONS: Monoamine neurotransmitters in brain tissue from a murine model of AKU did not change following treatment with nitisinone. These findings have significant implications for patients with AKU as they suggest monoamine neurotransmitters are not altered following treatment with nitisinone.
    Keywords:  Alkaptonuria; Dopamine; Imaging; Mass spectrometry; Neurotransmitter; Serotonin; Tryptophan; Tyramine; Tyrosine
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-019-1531-4
  4. J Biol Chem. 2019 Apr 30. pii: jbc.RA119.007841. [Epub ahead of print]
    The quantitative relationship between isotopic and net contributions of lactate and glucose to the TCA cycle.
    Minfeng Ying, Cheng Guo, Xun Hu.
      Whether growing cancer cells prefer lactate as a fuel over glucose or vice versa is an important yet controversial issue. Labeling of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates with glucose or lactate isotope tracers is often used to report the relative contributions of these two metabolites to the TCA cycle. However, this approach may not yield accurate results, as isotopic labeling may not accurately reflect net contributions of each metabolite. This may be due to isotopic exchange occurring during the conversion between pyruvate and lactate. To evaluate this quantitatively, we used an equation (CG - CG' = CL' - CL) assessing the relationship between isotopic labeling and net consumption measurements in vitro. CG and CL refer to the contributions of glucose and lactate to the TCA cycle as measured by their net consumption, whereas CG' and CL' refer to glucose and lactate's contributions determined with isotopic labeling. We found that the isotopic labeling data overestimate the net contribution of lactate to the TCA cycle and underestimate that of glucose. The overestimated amount is equal to the isotopic exchange amount between pyruvate and lactate. After excluding the interference of isotopic exchange, the major carbon contribution (i.e. acetyl-CoA) to the TCA cycle comes from glucose rather than lactate in vitro. We propose that these relative contributions of glucose and lactate may also be present in cancer cells in vivo.
    Keywords:  13C-labeling; glucose; isotope exchange; isotopic tracer; lactic acid; metabolic flux; net contribution; tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) (Krebs cycle); tumor metabolism
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA119.007841
  5. Lipids Health Dis. 2019 May 01. 18(1): 106
    A combination of omega-3 and plant sterols regulate glucose and lipid metabolism in individuals with impaired glucose regulation: a randomized and controlled clinical trial.
    Ji-Fang Wang, Hai-Ming Zhang, Yan-Yan Li, Song Xia, Yin Wei, Ling Yang, Dong Wang, Jing-Jing Ye, Hao-Xiang Li, Jing Yuan, Rui-Rong Pan.
       BACKGROUND: Lipid metabolism imbalance has been recognized as one of the major drivers of impaired glucose metabolism in the context of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the rates of which are steadily increasing worldwide. Impaired glucose regulation (IGR) plays a vital role in the prevention and treatment of T2DM. The goal of this study was to further clarify whether the combination of plant sterols (PS) and omega-3 fatty acids yields any synergistic effect that enhances the prevention and treatment of IGR.
    METHODS: A total of 200 participants were randomized to receive PS and omega-3 fatty acids (n = 50), PS alone (n = 50), omega-3 fatty acids alone (n = 50), or placebo soy bean powder plus placebo capsules (n = 50) for 12 weeks. Patient characteristics including body composition, blood pressure, glucose metabolism (Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR)), lipid metabolism (TG, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C) and inflammatory factors (Hs-CRP, IL-6) were all monitored in these IGR individuals.
    RESULTS: Compared to the placebo group, the group receiving the combined intervention exhibited significantly decreased TG, HDL-C, FBG, HOMA-IR and HbA1c. Omega-3 fatty acids alone were associated with significant reductions in waistline, TG, FBG, HOMA-IR and Hs-CRP. PS alone was only associated with decreased TG and Hs-CRP. No interventions produced significant changes in body weight, BMI, blood pressure, FINS, body fat percentage, visceral fat rating, TC, LDL-C or IL-6.
    CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this study has demonstrated for the first time that PS, omega-3 fatty acids or the combination thereof significantly improved inflammation, insulin resistance, as well as glucose and lipid metabolism in IGR individuals. These findings may provide a scientific basis for the development of nutritional products incorporating PS and omega-3 fatty acids, and also for the development of nutritional supplement strategies aimed at preventing the development of disease in the IGR population.
    Keywords:  Factorial design; Impaired glucose regulation; Omega-3 fatty acids; Plant sterols
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-019-1048-x
  6. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2019 Apr 22. pii: S1570-0232(19)30153-9. [Epub ahead of print]1118-1119 137-147
    Development and application of a high throughput one-pot extraction protocol for quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis of phospholipids in serum and lipoprotein fractions in normolipidemic and dyslipidemic subjects.
    Michael S Gardner, Zsuzsanna Kuklenyik, Antony Lehtikoski, Kayla A Carter, Lisa G McWilliams, Jennifer Kusovschi, Kevin Bierbaum, Jeffrey I Jones, Jon Rees, Gregory Reis, James L Pirkle, John R Barr.
      Progress toward better diagnosis and treatment of lipid metabolism-related diseases requires high throughput approaches for multiplexed quantitative analysis of structurally diverse lipids, including phospholipids (PLs). This work demonstrates a simplified "one-pot" phospholipid extraction protocol, as an alternative to conventional liquid-liquid extraction. Performed in a 96-well format, the extraction was coupled with high throughput UPLC and multiplexed tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection, allowing non-targeted quantification of phosphatidylcholines (PC), sphingomyelins (SM), lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC), phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), and phosphatidylinositols (PI). Using 50 μL aliquots of serum samples from 110 individuals, lipoproteins were fractionated by size, and analyzed for phospholipids and non-polar lipids including free cholesterol (FC), cholesteryl esters (CEs) and triglycerides (TGs). Analysis of serum samples with wide range of Total-TG levels showed significant differences in PL composition. The correlations of molar ratios in lipoprotein size fractions, SM/PL with FC/PL, PE/PL with TG/CE, and PE/PL with PI/PL, demonstrate the applicability of the method for quantitative composition analysis of high, low and very-low density lipoproteins (HDL, LDL and VLDL), and characterization of lipid metabolism related disease states.
    Keywords:  HILIC; Lipidomics; Lipids; Lipoproteins; Phospholipids; UHPLC-MS/MS
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchromb.2019.04.041
  7. Cancer Cell. 2019 Apr 10. pii: S1535-6108(19)30152-7. [Epub ahead of print]
    Combination of Hypoglycemia and Metformin Impairs Tumor Metabolic Plasticity and Growth by Modulating the PP2A-GSK3β-MCL-1 Axis.
    Mohamed Elgendy, Marco Cirò, Amir Hosseini, Jakob Weiszmann, Luca Mazzarella, Elisa Ferrari, Riccardo Cazzoli, Giuseppe Curigliano, Andrea DeCensi, Bernardo Bonanni, Alfredo Budillon, Pier Giuseppe Pelicci, Veerle Janssens, Manfred Ogris, Manuela Baccarini, Luisa Lanfrancone, Wolfram Weckwerth, Marco Foiani, Saverio Minucci.
      Tumor cells may adapt to metabolic challenges by alternating between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). To target this metabolic plasticity, we combined intermittent fasting, a clinically feasible approach to reduce glucose availability, with the OXPHOS inhibitor metformin. In mice exposed to 24-h feeding/fasting cycles, metformin impaired tumor growth only when administered during fasting-induced hypoglycemia. Synergistic anti-neoplastic effects of the metformin/hypoglycemia combination were mediated by glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) activation downstream of PP2A, leading to a decline in the pro-survival protein MCL-1, and cell death. Mechanistically, specific activation of the PP2A-GSK3β axis was the sum of metformin-induced inhibition of CIP2A, a PP2A suppressor, and of upregulation of the PP2A regulatory subunit B56δ by low glucose, leading to an active PP2A-B56δ complex with high affinity toward GSK3β.
    Keywords:  GSK3ß; MCL1; PP2A; caloric restriction; fasting; glucose; hypoglycemia; metabolic plasticity; metformin; tumor metabolism
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2019.03.007
  8. J Biol Chem. 2019 Apr 30. pii: jbc.RA119.008180. [Epub ahead of print]
    Dual inhibition of glutaminase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase decreases growth and migration of glutaminase inhibition-resistant triple-negative breast cancer cells.
    Larissa Menezes Dos Reis, Douglas Adamoski, Rodolpho Ornitz Oliveira Souza, Carolline Fernanda Rodrigues Ascenção, Krishina Ratna Sousa de Oliveira, Felipe Corrêa-da-Silva, Fábio Malta de Sá Patroni, Marília Meira Dias, Sílvio Roberto Consonni, Pedro Manoel Mendes de Moraes-Vieira, Ariel Mariano Silber, Sandra Martha Gomes Dias.
      Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) lack progesterone and estrogen receptors and do not have amplified human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, the main therapeutic targets for managing breast cancer. TNBCs have an altered metabolism, including an increased Warburg effect and glutamine dependence, making the glutaminase inhibitor CB-839 therapeutically promising for this tumor type. Accordingly, CB-839 is currently in phase I/II clinical trials. However, not all TNBCs respond to CB-839 treatment, with the tumor resistance mechanism not fully understood yet. Here, we classified cell lines as CB-839 sensitive or resistant according to their growth responses to CB-839. Compared with sensitive cells, resistant cells were less glutaminolytic and, upon CB-839 treatment, exhibited a smaller decrease in ATP content and less mitochondrial fragmentation, an indicator of poor mitochondrial health. Transcriptional analyses revealed that the expression levels of genes linked to lipid metabolism were altered between the sensitive and resistant cells and between breast cancer tissues (available from The Cancer Genome Atlas project) with low versus high glutaminase (GLS) gene expression. Of note, CB-839-resistant TNBC cells had increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase 2 (CPT2) protein and CPT1 activity levels. In agreement, CB-839-resistant TNBC cells mobilized more fatty acid into mitochondria for oxidation, which responded to AMP-activated protein kinase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase signaling. Moreover, chemical inhibition of both glutaminase and CPT1 decreased cell proliferation and migration of CB-839-resistant cells compared with single inhibition of each enzyme. We propose that dual targeting of glutaminase and CPT1 activities may have therapeutic relevance for managing CB-839-resistant tumors.
    Keywords:  CB-839; CPT1; CPT2; beta-oxidation; breast cancer; cancer therapy; energy metabolism; etomoxir; glutaminase
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA119.008180
  9. J Biotechnol. 2019 Apr 29. pii: S0168-1656(19)30144-0. [Epub ahead of print]
    A dynamic model-based preparation of uniformly-13C-labeled internal standards facilitates quantitative metabolomics analysis of Penicillium chrysogenum.
    Guan Wang, Ju Chu, Yingping Zhuang, Walter van Gulik, Henk Noorman.
      Targeted, quantitative metabolomics can, in principle, provide precise information on intracellular metabolite levels, which can be applied to accurate modeling of intracellular processes required in systems biology and metabolic engineering. However, quantitative metabolite profiling is often hampered by biased mass spectrometry-based analyses caused by matrix effects, the degradation of metabolites and metabolite leakage during sample preparation, and unexpected variation in instrument responses. Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry (IDMS) has been proven as the most accurate method for high-throughput detection of intracellular metabolite concentrations, and the key has been the acquisition of the corresponding fully uniformly (U) -13C-labeled metabolites to be measured. Here, we have prepared U-13C-labeled cell extracts by cultivating P. chrysogenum in a fed-batch fermentation with fully U-13C-labeled substrates. Towards this goal, a dynamic fed-batch model describing P. chrysogenum growth and penicillin production was used to simulate the fermentation process and design the fed-batch fermentation media. Further, a case study with extensive intracellular metabolomics data from glucose-limited cultivation of Penicillium chrysogenum under both single and repetitive glucose pulses was illustrated by using the IDMS methods with the prepared U-13C-labeled cell extracts as internal standards. In conclusion, the IDMS method can be incorporated into well-established fast sampling and quenching protocols to obtain dynamic quantitative in vivo metabolome data at the timescales of (tens of) seconds and elucidate the underlying regulatory architecture. The case study revealed gross differences between single and repeated pulses, which suggests that single pulse studies have limited value for understanding of metabolic responses in large-scale bioreactors. Instead, intermittent feeding should be favored.
    Keywords:  Dynamic; Fed-batch model; Isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS); Metabolomics; Penicillium chrysogenum; Perturbation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.04.021
  10. Anal Biochem. 2019 Apr 24. pii: S0003-2697(19)30280-5. [Epub ahead of print]577 59-66
    Evidence by GC-MS that lysine is an arginase-catalyzed metabolite of homoarginine in vitro and in vivo in humans.
    Alexander Bollenbach, Kathrin Cordts, Erik Hanff, Dorothee Atzler, Chi-Un Choe, Edzard Schwedhelm, Dimitrios Tsikas.
      l-Homoarginine (hArg) is biosynthesized from l-arginine (Arg) and l-lysine (Lys) by arginine:glycine amidinotransferase (AGAT). AGAT also catalyzes the formation of guanidinoacetate (GAA) from Arg and glycine (Gly). GAA is converted to creatine (N-methyl guanidinoacetate) by guanidinoacetate N-methyl-transferase (GAMT). Low circulating and excretory concentrations of hArg are associated with worse cardiovascular outcome and mortality. hArg is a poor substrate of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and a weak inhibitor of arginase. The metabolism of hArg in humans is little investigated. Previously, we found that orally administered hArg (125 mg/day) increased the plasma concentration of hArg, but not of Arg, the substrate of NOS, in healthy subjects. We newly analyzed the plasma samples collected in that study for Lys and other amino acids. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences between the groups (P = 0.008) with respect to plasma Lys concentration which increased by about 8% after a 4-week hArg supplementation. In vitro, recombinant human arginase and bovine liver arginase I were demonstrated by a specific and sensitive stable-isotope GC-MS assay to hydrolyze hArg to Lys. Our results suggest that Lys is a metabolite of hArg produced by the hydrolytic activity of arginase. Arginase may play a key role in hArg homeostasis in humans.
    Keywords:  Arginase; L‐Arginine; N(G)-Hydroxy-l-arginine; Nitric oxide; l‐Homoarginine
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2019.04.019
  11. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Apr 30. pii: E1527. [Epub ahead of print]16(9):
    Metabolite Changes in Maternal and Fetal Plasma Following Spontaneous Labour at Term in Humans Using Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis: A Pilot Study.
    Katherine A Birchenall, Gavin I Welsh, Andrés López Bernal.
      The mechanism of human labour remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to manage complications of parturition such as preterm labour and induction of labour. In this study we have investigated the effect of labour on plasma metabolites immediately following delivery, comparing cord and maternal plasma taken from women who laboured spontaneously and delivered vaginally with women who were delivered via elective caesarean section and did not labour. Samples were analysed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Welch's two-sample t-test was used to identify any significant differences. Of 826 metabolites measured, 26.9% (222/826) were significantly altered in maternal plasma and 21.1% (174/826) in cord plasma. Labour involves changes in many maternal organs and poses acute metabolic demands in the uterus and in the fetus and these are reflected in our results. While a proportion of these differences are likely to be secondary to the physiological demands of labour itself, these results present a comprehensive picture of the metabolome in the maternal and fetal circulations at the time of delivery and can be used to guide future studies. We discuss potential causal pathways for labour including endocannabinoids, ceramides, sphingolipids and steroids. Further work is necessary to confirm the specific pathways involved in the spontaneous onset of labour.
    Keywords:  endocannabinoid; energy metabolism; human parturition; steroids
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091527
  12. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2019 Apr 27. pii: S1084-9521(19)30056-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    Regulation of succinate dehydrogenase and role of succinate in cancer.
    Elisa Dalla Pozza, Ilaria Dando, Raffaella Pacchiana, Elio Liboi, Maria Teresa Scupoli, Massimo Donadelli, Marta Palmieri.
      Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) has been classically considered a mitochondrial enzyme with the unique property to participate in both the citric acid cycle and the electron transport chain. However, in recent years, several studies have highlighted the role of the SDH substrate, i.e. succinate, in biological processes other than metabolism, tumorigenesis being the most remarkable. For this reason, SDH has now been defined a tumor suppressor and succinate an oncometabolite. In this review, we discuss recent findings regarding alterations in SDH activity leading to succinate accumulation, which include SDH mutations, regulation of mRNA expression, post-translational modifications and endogenous SDH inhibitors. Further, we report an extensive examination of the role of succinate in cancer development through the induction of epigenetic and metabolic alterations and the effects on epithelial to mesenchymal transition, cell migration and invasion, and angiogenesis. Finally, we have focused on succinate and SDH as diagnostic markers for cancers having altered SDH expression/activity.
    Keywords:  SDH; cancer; metabolism; oncometabolites; succinate
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2019.04.013
  13. J Lipid Res. 2019 May 02. pii: jlr.M093534. [Epub ahead of print]
    Human COQ10A and COQ10B are distinct lipid-binding START domain proteins required for coenzyme Q function.
    Hui S Tsui, Nguyen V B Pham, Brendan R Amer, Michelle C Bradley, Jason E Gosschalk, Marcus Gallagher-Jones, Hope Ibarra, Robert T Clubb, Crysten E Blaby-Haas, Catherine F Clarke.
      Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone or CoQ) serves as an essential redox-active lipid in respiratory electron and proton transport during cellular energy metabolism. CoQ also functions as a membrane-localized antioxidant protecting cells against lipid peroxidation. CoQ deficiency is associated with multiple human diseases; CoQ10 supplementation in particular has noted cardioprotective benefits. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Coq10, a putative START domain protein, is believed to chaperone CoQ to sites where it functions. Yeast coq10 deletion mutants (coq10Δ) synthesize CoQ inefficiently during log phase growth, are respiratory defective and sensitive to oxidative stress. Humans have two orthologs of yeast COQ10, COQ10A and COQ10B. Here, we tested the human co-orthologs for their ability to rescue the yeast mutant. We showed that expression of either human ortholog, COQ10A or COQ10B, rescues yeast coq10Δ mutant phenotypes, restoring the function of respiratory-dependent growth on a non-fermentable carbon source and sensitivity to oxidative stress induced by treatment with polyunsaturated fatty acids. These effects indicate a strong functional conservation of Coq10 across different organisms. However, neither COQ10A nor COQ10B restored CoQ biosynthesis when expressed in the yeast coq10Δ mutant. The involvement of yeast Coq10 in CoQ biosynthesis may rely on its interactions with another protein, possibly Coq11, which is not found in humans. Co-expression analyses of yeast COQ10, and human COQ10A and COQ10B provide additional insights to functions of these START domain proteins, and their potential roles in other biologic pathways.
    Keywords:  Antioxidants; Lipids/Chemistry; Lipids/Peroxidation; Mass spectrometry; Mitochondria; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Ubiquinone
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1194/jlr.M093534
  14. Nat Metab. 2019 Feb;1(2): 291-303
    TGF-β2 is an exercise-induced adipokine that regulates glucose and fatty acid metabolism.
    Hirokazu Takahashi, Christiano R R Alves, Kristin I Stanford, Roeland J W Middelbeek, Pasquale Nigro, Rebecca E Ryan, Ruidan Xue, Masaji Sakaguchi, Matthew D Lynes, Kawai So, Joram D Mul, Min-Young Lee, Estelle Balan, Hui Pan, Jonathan M Dreyfuss, Michael F Hirshman, Mohamad Azhar, Jarna C Hannukainen, Pirjo Nuutila, Kari K Kalliokoski, Søren Nielsen, Bente K Pedersen, C Ronald Kahn, Yu-Hua Tseng, Laurie J Goodyear.
      Exercise improves health and well-being across diverse organ systems, and elucidating mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of exercise can lead to new therapies. Here, we show that transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) is secreted from adipose tissue in response to exercise and improves glucose tolerance in mice. We identify TGF-β2 as an exercise-induced adipokine in a gene expression analysis of human subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies after exercise training. In mice, exercise training increases TGF-β2 in scWAT, serum, and its secretion from fat explants. Transplanting scWAT from exercise-trained wild type mice, but not from adipose tissue-specific Tgfb2-/- mice, into sedentary mice improves glucose tolerance. TGF-β2 treatment reverses the detrimental metabolic effects of high fat feeding in mice. Lactate, a metabolite released from muscle during exercise, stimulates TGF-β2 expression in human adipocytes. Administration of the lactate-lowering agent dichloroacetate during exercise training in mice decreases circulating TGF-β2 levels and reduces exercise-stimulated improvements in glucose tolerance. Thus, exercise training improves systemic metabolism through inter-organ communication with fat via a lactate-TGF-β2-signaling cycle.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-018-0030-7
  15. Trends Analyt Chem. 2018 Oct;107 91-98
    Challenges in Mass Spectrometry-based Lipidomics of Neutral Lipids.
    Robert C Murphy.
      Mass spectrometry has played a critical role in the identification and quantitation of neutral lipids such as cholesteryl esters and triacylglycerols present in biological extracts. Various strategies have emerged in order to carry out such lipidomics studies since a large number of neutral lipid molecular species exist in tissues. These include both shotgun approaches as well as those engaging liquid chromatographic separation of species prior to mass spectrometric analysis. Nonetheless challenges remain at every level of the lipidomics experiment, including extraction of lipids, identification of specific species, and quantitation of the vast array of lipids present in the sample extract. Unambiguous identification of molecular species present (qualitative analysis) as well as precise quantitation remains as significant challenges. The relative quantitation enables quite accurate assessment of fold changes of complex lipid species without exact quantitation. The availability of reference standard material as well as relevant internal standards continue to be limited.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2018.07.023
  16. Free Radic Biol Med. 2019 Apr 26. pii: S0891-5849(19)30346-6. [Epub ahead of print]
    Computational solutions in redox lipidomics - Current strategies and future perspectives.
    Zhixu Ni, Laura Goracci, Gabriele Cruciani, Maria Fedorova.
      The high chemical diversity of lipids allows them to perform multiple biological functions ranging from serving as structural building blocks of biological membranes to regulation of metabolism and signal transduction. In addition to the native lipidome, lipid species derived from enzymatic and non-enzymatic modifications (the epilipidome) make the overall picture even more complex, as their functions are still largely unknown. Oxidized lipids represent the fraction of epilipidome which has attracted high scientific attention due to their apparent involvement in the onset and development of numerous human disorders. Development of high-throughput analytical methods such as liquid chromatography coupled on-line to mass spectrometry provides the possibility to address epilipidome diversity in complex biological samples. However, the main bottleneck of redox lipidomics, the branch of lipidomics dealing with the characterization of oxidized lipids, remains the lack of optimal computational tools for robust, accurate and specific identification of already discovered and yet unknown modified lipids. Here we discuss the main principles of high-throughput identification of lipids and their modified forms and review the main software tools currently available in redox lipidomics. Different levels of confidence for software assisted identification of redox lipidome are defined and necessary steps toward optimal computational solutions are proposed.
    Keywords:  Epilipidome; High-throughput identification; MS/MS; Oxidized lipids; Software tool; Spectra libraries
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.04.027
  17. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Apr 27. pii: S1043-2760(19)30059-1. [Epub ahead of print]
    Glutamine as an Essential Amino Acid for KRas-Driven Cancer Cells.
    Elyssa Bernfeld, David A Foster.
      Cancer cells consume glutamine, a nonessential amino acid (NEAA), at exceedingly high rates to fulfill their energetic and biosynthetic requirements for proliferation. Glutamine plays distinct roles from essential amino acids in cell cycle progression and in the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Furthermore, the need of cancer cells for glutamine can be exploited therapeutically - especially those driven by KRas. In this review we explore several distinct cellular roles for glutamine that contribute to glutamine addiction in KRas-driven cancer cells and discuss opportunities for therapeutic intervention created by glutamine addiction.
    Keywords:  KRas; aspartate; cell cycle; glutamine; mTOR
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2019.03.003
  18. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2019 Apr 30.
    Unraveling altered RNA metabolism in pancreatic cancer cells by liquid-chromatography coupling to ion mobility mass spectrometry.
    Simon Lagies, Manuel Schlimpert, Lukas M Braun, Michel Kather, Johannes Plagge, Thalia Erbes, Uwe A Wittel, Bernd Kammerer.
      Ion mobility coupling to mass spectrometry facilitates enhanced identification certitude. Further coupling to liquid chromatography results in multi-dimensional analytical methods, especially suitable for complex matrices with structurally similar compounds. Modified nucleosides represent a large group of very similar members linked to aberrant proliferation. Besides basal production under physiological conditions, they are increasingly excreted by transformed cells and subsequently discussed as putative biomarkers for various cancer types. Here, we report a method for modified nucleosides covering 37 species. We determined collisional cross-sections with high reproducibility from pure analytical standards. For sample purification, we applied an optimized phenylboronic acid solid-phase extraction on media obtained from four different pancreatic cancer cell lines. Our analysis could discriminate different subtypes of pancreatic cancer cell lines. Importantly, they could clearly be separated from a pancreatic control cell line as well as blank medium. m1A, m27G, and Asm were the most important features discriminating cancer cell lines derived from well-differentiated and poorly differentiated cancers. Eventually, we suggest the analytical method reported here for future tumor-marker identification studies. Graphical abstract.
    Keywords:  Biomarker; Ion mobility mass spectrometry; Modified nucleosides; Pancreatic cancer; TWIMS
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01814-1
  19. Metabolites. 2019 Apr 26. pii: E82. [Epub ahead of print]9(5):
    Multi-Omics Analyses Detail Metabolic Reprogramming in Lipids, Carnitines, and Use of Glycolytic Intermediates between Prostate Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma and Prostate Adenocarcinoma.
    Bei Gao, Hui-Wen Lue, Jennifer Podolak, Sili Fan, Ying Zhang, Archana Serawat, Joshi J Alumkal, Oliver Fiehn, George V Thomas.
      As the most common cancer in men, prostate cancer is molecularly heterogeneous. Contributing to this heterogeneity are the poorly understood metabolic adaptations of the two main types of prostate cancer, i.e., adenocarcinoma and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC), the latter being more aggressive and lethal. Using transcriptomics, untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics profiling on LASCPC-01 (prostate SCNC) and LNCAP (prostate adenocarcinoma) cell lines, we found significant differences in the cellular phenotypes of the two cell lines. Gene set enrichment analysis on the transcriptomics data showed 62 gene sets were upregulated in LASCPC-01, while 112 gene sets were upregulated in LNCAP. ChemRICH analysis on metabolomics and lipidomics data revealed a total of 25 metabolite clusters were significantly different. LASCPC-01 exhibited a higher glycolytic activity and lower levels of triglycerides, while the LNCAP cell line showed increases in one-carbon metabolism as an exit route of glycolytic intermediates and a decrease in carnitine, a mitochondrial lipid transporter. Our findings pinpoint differences in prostate neuroendocrine carcinoma versus prostate adenocarcinoma that could lead to new therapeutic targets in each type.
    Keywords:  N-Myc; extracellular acidification rate; hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC); oxygen consumption rate
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo9050082
  20. Elife. 2019 May 02. pii: e47221. [Epub ahead of print]8
    The importance of methionine metabolism.
    Ramon I Klein Geltink, Erika L Pearce.
      T helper cells import the amino acid methionine to synthesize new proteins and to provide the methyl groups needed for the methylation of RNA and DNA that drives T cell proliferation and differentiation.
    Keywords:  T cell activation; immunology; inflammation; lymphocyte; methionine metabolism; mouse; nutrient uptake
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.47221
  21. Cancer Discov. 2019 May;9(5): 578-580
    A FATal Combination: Fibroblast-Derived Lipids and Cancer-Derived Autotaxin Promote Pancreatic Cancer Growth.
    Giulia Biffi, David A Tuveson.
      In this issue of Cancer Discovery, Auciello and colleagues find that in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment activated fibroblasts secrete specific lipids that provide a source of biomass production and signaling molecules for cancer cells, fueling their proliferation and migration. Targeting of this stromal-tumor metabolic cross-talk impairs pancreatic cancer progression and represents a new potential therapeutic opportunity.See related article by Auciello et al., p. 617.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-19-0273
  22. BMC Bioinformatics. 2019 Apr 29. 20(1): 217
    Software tool for internal standard based normalization of lipids, and effect of data-processing strategies on resulting values.
    Jeremy P Koelmel, Jason A Cochran, Candice Z Ulmer, Allison J Levy, Rainey E Patterson, Berkley C Olsen, Richard A Yost, John A Bowden, Timothy J Garrett.
       BACKGROUND: Lipidomics, the comprehensive measurement of lipids within a biological system or substrate, is an emerging field with significant potential for improving clinical diagnosis and our understanding of health and disease. While lipids diverse biological roles contribute to their clinical utility, the diversity of lipid structure and concentrations prove to make lipidomics analytically challenging. Without internal standards to match each lipid species, researchers often apply individual internal standards to a broad range of related lipids. To aid in standardizing and automating this relative quantitation process, we developed LipidMatch Normalizer (LMN) http://secim.ufl.edu/secim-tools/ which can be used in most open source lipidomics workflows.
    RESULTS: LMN uses a ranking system (1-3) to assign lipid standards to target analytes. A ranking of 1 signifies that both the lipid class and adduct of the internal standard and target analyte match, while a ranking of 3 signifies that neither the adduct or class match. If multiple internal standards are provided for a lipid class, standards with the closest retention time to the target analyte will be chosen. The user can also signify which lipid classes an internal standard represents, for example indicating that ether-linked phosphatidylcholine can be semi-quantified using phosphatidylcholine. LMN is designed to work with any lipid identification software and feature finding software, and in this study is used to quantify lipids in NIST SRM 1950 human plasma annotated using LipidMatch and MZmine.
    CONCLUSIONS: LMN can be integrated into an open source workflow which completes all data processing steps including feature finding, annotation, and quantification for LC-MS/MS studies. Using LMN we determined that in certain cases the use of peak height versus peak area, certain adducts, and negative versus positive polarity data can have major effects on the final concentration obtained.
    Keywords:  Data-independent analysis; High resolution mass spectrometry; Lipid quantification; Lipidomics; Liquid chromatography; MZmine; Mass spectrometry; Peak picking; Relative quantification; SRM 1950
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-019-2803-8
  23. Proteomics. 2019 May 03. e1800361
    Identification and Quantification of Proteoforms by Mass Spectrometry.
    Leah V Schaffer, Robert J Millikin, Rachel M Miller, Lissa C Anderson, Ryan T Fellers, Ying Ge, Neil L Kelleher, Richard D LeDuc, Xiaowen Liu, Samuel H Payne, Liangliang Sun, Paul M Thomas, Trisha Tucholski, Zhe Wang, Si Wu, Zhijie Wu, Dahang Yu, Michael R Shortreed, Lloyd M Smith.
      A proteoform is a defined form of a protein derived from a given gene with a specific amino acid sequence and localized post-translational modifications. In top-down proteomic analyses, proteoforms are identified and quantified through mass spectrometric analysis of intact proteins. Recent technological developments have enabled comprehensive proteoform analyses in complex samples, and an increasing number of laboratories are adopting top-down proteomic workflows. In this review, we outline some recent advances and discuss current challenges and future directions for the field. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  bioinformatics; mass spectrometry; proteoform; proteoform family; top-down proteomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/pmic.201800361
  24. Nutrients. 2019 Apr 26. pii: E945. [Epub ahead of print]11(5):
    Protective Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Cancer-Related Complications.
    Raquel D S Freitas, Maria M Campos.
      Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are considered immunonutrients and are commonly used in the nutritional therapy of cancer patients due to their ample biological effects. Omega-3 PUFAs play essential roles in cell signaling and in the cell structure and fluidity of membranes. They participate in the resolution of inflammation and have anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects. Additionally, they can act as agonists of G protein-coupled receptors, namely, GPR40/FFA1 and GPR120/FFA4. Cancer patients undergo complications, such as anorexia-cachexia syndrome, pain, depression, and paraneoplastic syndromes. Interestingly, the 2017 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) guidelines for cancer patients only discuss the use of omega-3 PUFAs for cancer-cachexia treatment, leaving aside other cancer-related complications that could potentially be managed by omega-3 PUFA supplementation. This critical review aimed to discuss the effects and the possible underlying mechanisms of omega-3 PUFA supplementation in cancer-related complications. Data compilation in this critical review indicates that further investigation is still required to assess the factual benefits of omega-3 PUFA supplementation in cancer-associated illnesses. Nevertheless, preclinical evidence reveals that omega-3 PUFAs and their metabolites might modulate pivotal pathways underlying complications secondary to cancer, indicating that this is a promising field of knowledge to be explored.
    Keywords:  anorexia-cachexia syndrome; cancer; depression; nutrition; omega-3; pain; paraneoplastic syndromes
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11050945
  25. Nature. 2019 May 01.
    Proteomics reveals NNMT as a master metabolic regulator of cancer-associated fibroblasts.
    Mark A Eckert, Fabian Coscia, Agnieszka Chryplewicz, Jae Won Chang, Kyle M Hernandez, Shawn Pan, Samantha M Tienda, Dominik A Nahotko, Gang Li, Ivana Blaženović, Ricardo R Lastra, Marion Curtis, S Diane Yamada, Ruth Perets, Stephanie M McGregor, Jorge Andrade, Oliver Fiehn, Raymond E Moellering, Matthias Mann, Ernst Lengyel.
      High-grade serous carcinoma has a poor prognosis, owing primarily to its early dissemination throughout the abdominal cavity. Genomic and proteomic approaches have provided snapshots of the proteogenomics of ovarian cancer1,2, but a systematic examination of both the tumour and stromal compartments is critical in understanding ovarian cancer metastasis. Here we develop a label-free proteomic workflow to analyse as few as 5,000 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cells microdissected from each compartment. The tumour proteome was stable during progression from in situ lesions to metastatic disease; however, the metastasis-associated stroma was characterized by a highly conserved proteomic signature, prominently including the methyltransferase nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) and several of the proteins that it regulates. Stromal NNMT expression was necessary and sufficient for functional aspects of the cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotype, including the expression of CAF markers and the secretion of cytokines and oncogenic extracellular matrix. Stromal NNMT expression supported ovarian cancer migration, proliferation and in vivo growth and metastasis. Expression of NNMT in CAFs led to depletion of S-adenosyl methionine and reduction in histone methylation associated with widespread gene expression changes in the tumour stroma. This work supports the use of ultra-low-input proteomics to identify candidate drivers of disease phenotypes. NNMT is a central, metabolic regulator of CAF differentiation and cancer progression in the stroma that may be therapeutically targeted.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1173-8
  26. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Apr 27. pii: E2085. [Epub ahead of print]20(9):
    Unappreciated Role of LDHA and LDHB to Control Apoptosis and Autophagy in Tumor Cells.
    Kaja Urbańska, Arkadiusz Orzechowski.
      Tumor cells possess a high metabolic plasticity, which drives them to switch on the anaerobic glycolysis and lactate production when challenged by hypoxia. Among the enzymes mediating this plasticity through bidirectional conversion of pyruvate and lactate, the lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) and lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB), are indicated. LDHA has a higher affinity for pyruvate, preferentially converting pyruvate to lactate, and NADH to NAD+ in anaerobic conditions, whereas LDHB possess a higher affinity for lactate, preferentially converting lactate to pyruvate, and NAD+ to NADH, when oxygen is abundant. Apart from the undisputed role of LDHA and LDHB in tumor cell metabolism and adaptation to unfavorable environmental or cellular conditions, these enzymes participate in the regulation of cell death. This review presents the latest progress made in this area on the roles of LDHA and LDHB in apoptosis and autophagy of tumor cells. Several examples of how LDHA and LDHB impact on these processes, as well as possible molecular mechanisms, will be discussed in this article. The information included in this review points to the legitimacy of modulating LDHA and/or LDHB to target tumor cells in the context of human and veterinary medicine.
    Keywords:  apoptosis; autophagy; lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA); lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB); tumor
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20092085
  27. ACS Cent Sci. 2019 Apr 24. 5(4): 700-708
    Rapid Prediction of Electron-Ionization Mass Spectrometry Using Neural Networks.
    Jennifer N Wei, David Belanger, Ryan P Adams, D Sculley.
      When confronted with a substance of unknown identity, researchers often perform mass spectrometry on the sample and compare the observed spectrum to a library of previously collected spectra to identify the molecule. While popular, this approach will fail to identify molecules that are not in the existing library. In response, we propose to improve the library's coverage by augmenting it with synthetic spectra that are predicted from candidate molecules using machine learning. We contribute a lightweight neural network model that quickly predicts mass spectra for small molecules, averaging 5 ms per molecule with a recall-at-10 accuracy of 91.8%. Achieving high-accuracy predictions requires a novel neural network architecture that is designed to capture typical fragmentation patterns from electron ionization. We analyze the effects of our modeling innovations on library matching performance and compare our models to prior machine-learning-based work on spectrum prediction.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.9b00085
  28. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2019 Apr 29.
    Online porous graphic carbon chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for post-translational modification analysis.
    Rui Chen, Jacek Stupak, Sam Williamson, Susan M Twine, Jianjun Li.
       RATIONALE: Porous graphic carbon chromatography (PGC) has different mechanism in retention of tryptic peptides compared with reversed phase chromatography and in this study it was shown that coupling PGC with tandem mass spectrometry offer advantages for the quantitation of phosphorylation stoichiometry and characterization of site-specific glycosylation.
    METHODS: Digests of protein standards (horse myoglobin, bovine fetuin and β-casein) were analyzed with a capillary LC-MS/MS system by coupling Agilent 1100 HPLC to Synapt G2-Si HDMS (Waters). Peptides were separated using a HyperCarb PGC column (300 μm i.d.× 100 mm) packing with 3 μm particles. MS/MS data were collected in data-dependent mode and 3 MS/MS scans were acquired after full MS scan. RAW data were transformed to.mgf by PLGS (Waters) and searched against Swissprot database by Mascot. Chromatogram and MS/MS spectra of identified were extracted with Masslynx (Waters) and imported to Origin for analysis. Glycan composition and peptide sequence was manually annotated.
    RESULTS: PGC-MS/MS enabled accurate quantitation of the stoichiometry of specific phosphorylation sites from β-casein by efficient separation of the phosphopeptide and its non-phosphorylated counterpart, which cannot be achieved by reversed phase chromatography. PGC-MS/MS also enabled comprehensive characterization of protein sialoglycosylation as isomeric glycopeptides with different combination of α2-3 and α2-6 linked sialic acids can be separated and the ratio of each combination were verified by exoglycosidase digestion.
    CONCLUSION: PGC has demonstrated superior separation of peptides with phosphorylation and glycosylation and can be used as alternative in proteomic characterization of PTMs by polar groups.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8459
  29. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2019 Mar 27.
    Targeting cancer cell metabolism in glioblastoma.
    Sarah Crunkhorn.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-019-00054-3
  30. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2019 Apr 29.
    Identification of PRDX6 as a regulator of ferroptosis.
    Bin Lu, Xiao-Bing Chen, Yu-Cai Hong, Hong Zhu, Qiao-Jun He, Bo Yang, Mei-Dan Ying, Ji Cao.
      Ferroptosis is a newly characterized iron-dependent form of nonapoptotic regulated cell death triggered by lipid reactive oxygen species (LOOH). The dysregulation of ferroptosis is highly related to cancer, and the induction of ferroptosis is also proposed as a potential strategy for cancer therapy. Although several key regulators have been identified that are involved in ferroptosis, the molecular mechanism underlying this process remains largely unknown. Here, we report that Peroxiredoxin-6 (PRDX6) is a bona fide negative regulator of ferroptotic cell death. The knockdown of intracellular PRDX6 significantly enhances LOOH and ferroptotic cell death triggered by ferroptosis inducers (Erastin and RSL-3), which is correlated with the transcriptional activation of heme oxygenase-1. Moreover, overexpression of heme oxygenase-1 enhances both Erastin- and RSL-3-triggered LOOH, suggesting that heme oxygenase-1 mediates PRDX6 silencing-enhanced ferroptosis. More importantly, the application of a specific PRDX6 phospholipase A2 (iPLA2) inhibitor, MJ-33, synergistically enhances the ferroptosis induced by Erastin, suggesting that PRDX6 removes LOOH through its iPLA2 activity. Thus, our findings reveal an essential role of PRDX6 in protecting cells against ferroptosis and provide a potential target to improve the antitumor activity of ferroptosis-based chemotherapy.
    Keywords:  PRDX6; antitumor therapy; ferroptosis; heme oxygenase-1; iPLA2 activity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-019-0233-9
  31. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2019 Apr 30. pii: mcp.RA118.001121. [Epub ahead of print]
    Exploring Regulation of Protein O-Glycosylation in Isogenic Human HEK293 Cells by Differential O-Glycoproteomics.
    Yoshiki Narimatsu, Hiren Joshi, Katrine T Schjoldager, John Hintze, Adnan Halim, Catharina Steentoft, Rebecca Nasson, Ulla Mandel, Eric P Bennett, Henrik Clausen, Sergey Y Vakhrushev.
      Most proteins trafficking the secretory pathway of metazoan cells will acquire GalNAc-type O-glycosylation. GalNAc-type O-glycosylation is differentially regulated in cells by the expression of a repertoire of up to twenty genes encoding polypeptide GalNAc-transferase isoforms (GalNAc-Ts) that initiate O-glycosylation. These GalNAc-Ts orchestrate the positions and patterns of O-glycans on proteins in coordinated, but poorly understood ways - guided partly by the kinetic properties and substrate specificities of their catalytic domains, as well as by modulatory effects of their unique GalNAc-binding lectin domains. Here, we provide the hereto most comprehensive characterization of non-redundant contributions of individual GalNAc-T isoforms to the O-glycoproteome of the human HEK293 cell using quantitative differential O-glycoproteomics on a panel of isogenic HEK293 cells with knockout of GalNAc-T genes (GALNT1, T2, T3, T7, T10, or T11). We confirm that a major part of the O-glycoproteome is covered by redundancy, while distinct O-glycosite subsets are covered by non-redundant GalNAc-T isoform-specific functions. We demonstrate that the GalNAc-T7 and T10 isoforms function in follow-up of high density O-glycosylated regions, and that GalNAc-T11 has highly restricted functions and essentially only serves the low-density lipoprotein-related receptors in linker regions (C6XXXTC1) between the ligand-binding repeats.
    Keywords:  ETD; GALNT; Glycoproteomics; Glycosylation; Mass Spectrometry; Post-translational modifications*; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.RA118.001121
  32. Nutrients. 2019 Apr 27. pii: E966. [Epub ahead of print]11(5):
    The Effect of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on the Production of Cyclooxygenase and Lipoxygenase Metabolites by Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.
    Pedro Araujo, Ikram Belghit, Niels Aarsæther, Marit Espe, Eva Lucena, Elisabeth Holen.
      Although the correlation between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory metabolites is well documented, little is known about the simultaneous effect of different PUFA on the production of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase metabolites. The present research examines the association between different omega-3 (ω-3) and omega-6 (ω-6) PUFA and the release of four cyclooxygenase and six lipoxygenase metabolites in cell medium by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The different combinations of ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA were prepared according to a full 24 factorial design that enables studying not only the main effects but also the different interactions between fatty acids. In addition, interactions diagrams and principal component analysis were useful tools for interpreting higher order interactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report addressing the combined effect of ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA on the signaling of prostaglandins, prostacyclins, leukotrienes and resolvins by HUVEC.
    Keywords:  arachidonic acid; docosahexaenoic acid; eicosanoids; eicosapentaenoic acid; human umbilical vein endothelial cells; leukotrienes; polyunsaturated fatty acids; prostacyclins; resolvins; α-linolenic acid
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11050966
  33. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2019 Apr 29. pii: S0304-419X(19)30007-1. [Epub ahead of print]
    Exosomes in cancer development, metastasis, and immunity.
    Lin Zhang, Dihua Yu.
      Exosomes play essential roles in intercellular communications. The exosome was discovered in 1983, when it was found that reticulocytes release 50-nm small vesicles carrying transferrin receptors into the extracellular space. Since then, our understanding of the mechanism and function of the exosome has expanded exponentially that has transformed our perspective of inter-cellular exchanges and the molecular mechanisms that underlie disease progression. Cancer cells generally produce more exosomes than normal cells, and exosomes derived from cancer cells have a strong capacity to modify both local and distant microenvironments. In this review, we summarize the functions of exosomes in cancer development, metastasis, and anti-tumor or pro-tumor immunity, plus their application in cancer treatment and diagnosis/prognosis. Although the exosome field has rapidly advanced, we still do not fully understand the regulation and function of exosomes in detail and still face many challenges in their clinical application. Continued discoveries in this field will bring novel insights on intercellular communications involved in various biological functions and disease progression, thus empowering us to effectively tackle accompanying clinical challenges.
    Keywords:  Cancer; Exosome; Extracellular vesicles; Immunity; Intercellular communication; Metastasis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbcan.2019.04.004
  34. Nat Metab. 2019 Jan;1 16-33
    Coupling Krebs cycle metabolites to signalling in immunity and cancer.
    Dylan G Ryan, Michael P Murphy, Christian Frezza, Hiran A Prag, Edward T Chouchani, Luke A O'Neill, Evanna L Mills.
      Metabolic reprogramming has become a key focus for both immunologists and cancer biologists, with exciting advances providing new insights into underlying mechanisms of disease. Metabolites traditionally associated with bioenergetics or biosynthesis have been implicated in immunity and malignancy in transformed cells, with a particular focus on intermediates of the mitochondrial pathway known as the Krebs cycle. Among these, the intermediates succinate, fumarate, itaconate, 2-hydroxyglutarate isomers (D-2-hydroxyglutarate and L-2-hydroxyglutarate) and acetyl-CoA now have extensive evidence for "non-metabolic" signalling functions in both physiological immune contexts and in disease contexts, such as the initiation of carcinogenesis. This review will describe how metabolic reprogramming, with emphasis placed on these metabolites, leads to altered immune cell and transformed cell function. The latest findings are informative for new therapeutic approaches which could be transformative for a range of diseases.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-018-0014-7
  35. Metabolites. 2019 May 02. pii: E88. [Epub ahead of print]9(5):
    Using Pathway Covering to Explore Connections among Metabolites.
    Peter E Midford, Mario Latendresse, Paul E O'Maille, Peter D Karp.
      Interpreting changes in metabolite abundance in response to experimental treatments or disease states remains a major challenge in metabolomics. Pathway Covering is a new algorithm that takes a list of metabolites (compounds) and determines a minimum-cost set of metabolic pathways in an organism that includes (covers) all the metabolites in the list. We used five functions for assigning costs to pathways, including assigning a constant for all pathways, which yields a solution with the smallest pathway count; two methods that penalize large pathways; one that prefers pathways based on the pathway's assigned function, and one that loosely corresponds to metabolic flux. The pathway covering set computed by the algorithm can be displayed as a multi-pathway diagram ("pathway collage") that highlights the covered metabolites. We investigated the pathway covering algorithm by using several datasets from the Metabolomics Workbench. The algorithm is best applied to a list of metabolites with significant statistics and fold-changes with a specified direction of change for each metabolite. The pathway covering algorithm is now available within the Pathway Tools software and BioCyc website.
    Keywords:  BioCyc; metabolite sets; optimization; pathways; set theory
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo9050088
  36. Cell Rep. 2019 Apr 30. pii: S2211-1247(19)30467-X. [Epub ahead of print]27(5): 1551-1566.e5
    Anaerobic Glycolysis Maintains the Glomerular Filtration Barrier Independent of Mitochondrial Metabolism and Dynamics.
    Paul T Brinkkoetter, Tillmann Bork, Sarah Salou, Wei Liang, Athanasia Mizi, Cem Özel, Sybille Koehler, H Henning Hagmann, Christina Ising, Alexander Kuczkowski, Svenia Schnyder, Ahmed Abed, Bernhard Schermer, Thomas Benzing, Oliver Kretz, Victor G Puelles, Simon Lagies, Manuel Schlimpert, Bernd Kammerer, Christoph Handschin, Christoph Schell, Tobias B Huber.
      The cellular responses induced by mitochondrial dysfunction remain elusive. Intrigued by the lack of almost any glomerular phenotype in patients with profound renal ischemia, we comprehensively investigated the primary sources of energy of glomerular podocytes. Combining functional measurements of oxygen consumption rates, glomerular metabolite analysis, and determination of mitochondrial density of podocytes in vivo, we demonstrate that anaerobic glycolysis and fermentation of glucose to lactate represent the key energy source of podocytes. Under physiological conditions, we could detect neither a developmental nor late-onset pathological phenotype in podocytes with impaired mitochondrial biogenesis machinery, defective mitochondrial fusion-fission apparatus, or reduced mtDNA stability and transcription caused by podocyte-specific deletion of Pgc-1α, Drp1, or Tfam, respectively. Anaerobic glycolysis represents the predominant metabolic pathway of podocytes. These findings offer a strategy to therapeutically interfere with the enhanced podocyte metabolism in various progressive kidney diseases, such as diabetic nephropathy or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).
    Keywords:  anaerobic glycolysis; glomerular filtration barrier; metabolomics; podocytes
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.012
  37. Cells. 2019 Apr 28. pii: E389. [Epub ahead of print]8(5):
    Cholesterol Trafficking: An Emerging Therapeutic Target for Angiogenesis and Cancer.
    Junfang Lyu, Eun Ju Yang, Joong Sup Shim.
      Cholesterol is an essential structural component of cellular membranes. In addition to the structural role, it also serves as a precursor to a variety of steroid hormones and has diverse functions in intracellular signal transduction. As one of its functions in cell signaling, recent evidence suggests that cholesterol plays a key role in regulating angiogenesis. This review discusses the role of cholesterol in angiogenesis, with a particular emphasis on cholesterol trafficking in endothelial cell signaling. Small molecule inhibitors of cholesterol trafficking and their preclinical and clinical development targeting angiogenesis and cancer are also discussed.
    Keywords:  NPC1; angiogenesis; cholesterol trafficking; lysosome; mTOR
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8050389
  38. J Nutr Biochem. 2019 Mar 12. pii: S0955-2863(18)30853-2. [Epub ahead of print]69 1-9
    Alterations in folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism as colon cell transition from normal to cancerous.
    I Asante, D Chui, H Pei, E Zhou, C De Giovanni, D Conti, S Louie.
      Folate-dependent one-carbon cycle metabolism (FOCM) plays a critical role in maintaining genomic stability through regulating DNA biosynthesis, repair and methylation. Folate metabolites as well as other metabolites in the FOCM are hypothesized to be altered when cells transition from normal to cancerous state. Using cells at different stages in their development into colorectal cancer, the FOCM metabolites were profiled as an effort to phenotype the cells, and the metabolite levels were compared to the expressions of related genes. Here, we investigate whether there is a correlation between the metabolite levels, DNA methylation levels and the expression of the related genes that drive the levels of these metabolites. Using CRL1459, APC10.1, HCT116 and Caco-2, we show for the first time that FOCM metabolites correlate with the gene expression patterns. These differences follow a trend that may facilitate distinguishing colon cells at the different stages as they transition into cancerous state. The folate distribution and methionine levels were found to be key in determining the staging of the colon cells in CRC development. Also, expression of CBS, MTRR and MAT genes may facilitate distinguishing between untransformed and transformed colon cells.
    Keywords:  Colorectal cancer; DNA methylation; Folate; Metabolomics; One-carbon cycle
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2019.02.008
  39. Cancer Metab. 2019 ;7 3
    Stratification of cancer and diabetes based on circulating levels of formate and glucose.
    METTEN study group
       Background: Serum and urine metabolites have been investigated for their use as cancer biomarkers. The specificity of candidate metabolites can be limited by the impact of other disorders on metabolite levels. In particular, the increasing incidence of obesity could become a significant confounding factor.
    Methods: Here we developed a multinomial classifier for the stratification of cancer, obesity and healthy phenotypes based on circulating glucose and formate levels. We quantified the classifier performance from the retrospective analysis of samples from breast cancer, lung cancer, obese individuals and healthy controls.
    Results: We discovered that circulating formate levels are significantly lower in breast and lung cancer patients than in healthy controls. However, the performance of a cancer classifier based on formate levels alone is limited because obese patients also have low serum formate levels. By introducing a multinomial classifier based on circulating glucose and formate levels, we were able to improve the classifier performance, reaching a true positive rate of 79% with a false positive rate of 8%.
    Conclusions: Circulating formate is reduced in HER2+ breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and highly obese patients relative to healthy controls. Further studies are required to determine the relevance of these observations in other cancer types and diseases.
    Keywords:  Biomarker; Cancer; Formate; Obesity; Serum metabolomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40170-019-0195-x
  40. Electrophoresis. 2019 May 03.
    Peptidomics and Proteomics based on CE-MS as a robust tool in clinical application: The past, the present, and the future.
    Agnieszka Latosinska, Justyna Siwy, Harald Mischak, Maria Frantzi.
      Capillary electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry (CE-MS) has been used for several years now for the investigation of proteins and peptides as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. In addition, the technology has recently been introduced to support the stratification of patients in clinical trials and in large clinical studies. In this review, we aim at presenting the development of CE-MS over the last twenty years, by focusing on the clinical potential of proteome and peptidome analysis and highlighting some of the key technical issues and advancements that have been made in this context towards implementation. Based on the reviewed literature, it has become evident that CE-MS is now an accepted tool in clinical application in several disease areas. Apart from a critical overview on the current state-of-the-art in CE-MS, we also indicate the expected developments for potential future use. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  capillary electrophoresis; clinical applications; mass spectrometry
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/elps.201900091
  41. Anal Chim Acta. 2019 Aug 27. pii: S0003-2670(19)30322-8. [Epub ahead of print]1067 63-70
    A multiplex liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of seven therapeutic monoclonal antibodies: Application for adalimumab therapeutic drug monitoring in patients with Crohn's disease.
    Théo Willeman, Jean-François Jourdil, Elodie Gautier-Veyret, Bruno Bonaz, Françoise Stanke-Labesque.
      The use of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is steadily increasing. Previous studies have reported the clinical interest of mAb therapeutic-drug monitoring (TDM), including that of adalimumab, for patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Proof of concept mAb-quantification studies by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) have been published, but a specific and reliable routine-suited multiplex quantification method is still needed to facilitate mAb TDM. We describe an electrospray ionization LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of seven mAbs (adalimumab, cetuximab, infliximab, rituximab, secukinumab, tocilizumab, and trastuzumab) in human plasma. Sample preparation was performed using protein-G purification and trypsin digestion to obtain proteotypic peptides. We retrospectively measured the adalimumab concentration in 65 plasma samples from 56 CD patients and determined the adalimumab therapeutic cut-off concentration associated with biological remission. Calibration curves were linear from 1 to 100 μg mL-1, except for rituximab (5-100 μg mL-1). This method was reproducible, repeatable, and accurate (coefficient of variation and bias < 20%), with no cross contamination. Adalimumab concentrations were significantly higher (p = 0.0198) for patients with biological remission (median: 11.3 μg mL-1 [4.6; 18.3]) than that for patients without a biological response (9.5 μg mL-1 [3.94;17.0]). An adalimumab cut-off concentration of 8.0 μg mL-1 correctly discriminated patients with or without biological remission (sensitivity: 74.1%, specificity: 57.9%). This validated LC-MS/MS routine-suited method is the first allowing simultaneous quantification of up to seven mAbs acting against different pharmacological targets. It opens the field of TDM to numerous mAbs.
    Keywords:  Adalimumab; Crohn's disease; Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry; Therapeutic drug monitoring; Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2019.03.033
  42. Ann Clin Biochem. 2019 Apr 30. 4563219847498
    ANNALS EXPRESS: A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for the profiling of classical and 11-oxygenated androgens in saliva.
    Lina Schiffer, Joanne Elaine Adaway, Wiebke Arlt, Brian G Keevil.
       BACKGROUND: Classical and 11-oxygenated androgens both contribute to the androgen pool. Regular monitoring of the androgen status is required in disorders of steroidogenesis and multiplexing of androgens improves the diagnostic ability of an assay. Due to the cheap non-invasive collection, saliva is advantageous when multiple samples are required. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) offers sensitive, simultaneous quantification of steroids with short run times. Here, we have developed an LC-MS/MS assay for the simultaneous measurement of 17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, 11-hydroxyandrostenedione and 11-ketotestosterone in saliva.
    METHODS: Samples (300 L unstimulated whole saliva) were prepared by supported liquid extraction with dichloromethane and were reconstituted in 40% methanol. After on-line solid phase extraction with C18 cartridges, liquid chromatography was performed on a C8 column using a water/methanol gradient containing 0.1% formic acid and 2 mmol/L ammonium acetate. A Waters TQ-S mass spectrometer was used for quantification.
    RESULTS: Total run time was 6.4 minutes. For all analytes recovery was between 89% and 109%, ion suppression between 86% and 105%. Intra- and inter-assay comparisons showed a coefficient of variation <10% and the bias between measured and nominal concentration varied between -8% and 10%. Interference with a large set of natural and synthetic steroids was excluded. The assay was applied for the measurement of the androgen profile in healthy men (n=17) and women (n=10) which confirmed the sensitivity of the assay to be appropriate.
    CONCLUSION: We present a novel LC-MS/MS assay for the comprehensive profiling of classical and 11-oxygenated androgens with potential for routine clinical application.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/0004563219847498
  43. Cancer Discov. 2019 May 03.
    NAD Metabolic Dependency Determines Therapeutic Sensitivity in Cancer.
      Cancer cells exhibit tissue-specific dependencies on various NAD biosynthetic pathways for survival.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-RW2019-067
  44. Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 29. 9(1): 6584
    The interactome of a family of potential methyltransferases in HeLa cells.
    Valentina V Ignatova, Pascal W T C Jansen, Marijke P Baltissen, Michiel Vermeulen, Robert Schneider.
      Human methytransferase like proteins (METTL) are part of a large protein family characterized by the presence of binding domains for S-adenosyl methionine, a co-substrate for methylation reactions. Despite the fact that members of this protein family were shown or predicted to be DNA, RNA or protein methyltransferases, most METTL proteins are still poorly characterized. Identification of complexes in which these potential enzymes act could help to understand their function(s) and substrate specificities. Here we systematically studied interacting partners of METTL protein family members in HeLa cells using label-free quantitative mass spectrometry. We found that, surprisingly, many of the METTL proteins appear to function outside of stable complexes whereas others including METTL7B, METTL8 and METTL9 have high-confidence interaction partners. Our study is the first systematic and comprehensive overview of the interactome of METTL protein family that can provide a crucial resource for further studies of these potential novel methyltransferases.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43010-2
  45. Curr Med Chem. 2019 Apr 16.
    Metabolic reprogramming of cancer by chemicals that target glutaminase isoenzymes.
    José M Matés, José A Campos-Sandoval, Juan de Los Santos-Jiménez, Juan A Segura, Francisco J Alonso, Javier Márquez.
       BACKGROUND: Metabolic reprogramming of tumours is a hallmark of cancer. Among the changes in the metabolic network of cancer cells, glutaminolysis is a key reaction altered in neoplasms. Glutaminase proteins control the first step in glutamine metabolism and their expression correlates with malignancy and growth rate of a great variety of cancers. The two types of glutaminase isoenzymes, GLS and GLS2, differ in their expression patterns and functional roles: GLS has oncogenic properties and GLS2 has been described as a tumour suppressor factor.
    RESULTS: We have focused on glutaminase connections with key oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. Targeting glutaminase isoenzymes are included into the different strategies aimed at deactivate the rewiring of cancer metabolism. In addition, we found a long list of metabolic enzymes, transcription factors and signalling pathways dealing with glutaminase. On the other hand, an important number of chemicals have been described as isoenzyme-specific inhibitors of GLS and/or GLS2 isoforms. These molecules are being characterized as synergic and therapeutic agents in many types of tumours.
    CONCLUSION: This review states the metabolic pathways that are rewired in cancer, the roles of glutaminase isoforms in cancer, as well as the metabolic circuits regulated by glutaminases. We also show the plethora of anticancer drugs that specifically inhibit glutaminase isoenzymes for treating several sets of cancer.
    Keywords:  Cancer metabolism; Combinatory therapy; Glutaminase inhibitors; Glutaminase isoenzymes; Glutamine; Metabolic reprogramming
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867326666190416165004
  46. J Clin Med. 2019 Apr 30. pii: E597. [Epub ahead of print]8(5):
    Research Evidence on High-Fat Diet-Induced Prostate Cancer Development and Progression.
    Shintaro Narita, Taketoshi Nara, Hiromi Sato, Atsushi Koizumi, Mingguo Huang, Takamitsu Inoue, Tomonori Habuchi.
      Although recent evidence has suggested that a high-fat diet (HFD) plays an important role in prostate carcinogenesis, the underlying mechanisms have largely remained unknown. This review thus summarizes previous preclinical studies that have used prostate cancer cells and animal models to assess the impact of dietary fat on prostate cancer development and progression. Large variations in the previous studies were found during the selection of preclinical models and types of dietary intervention. Subcutaneous human prostate cancer cell xenografts, such as LNCaP, LAPC-4, and PC-3 and genetic engineered mouse models, such as TRAMP and Pten knockout, were frequently used. The dietary interventions had not been standardized, and distinct variations in the phenotype were observed in different studies using distinct HFD components. The use of different dietary components in the research models is reported to influence the effect of diet-induced metabolic disorders. The proposed underlying mechanisms for HFD-induced prostate cancer were divided into (1) growth factor signaling, (2) lipid metabolism, (3) inflammation, (4) hormonal modulation, and others. A number of preclinical studies proposed that dietary fat and/or obesity enhanced prostate cancer development and progression. However, the relationship still remains controversial, and care should be taken when interpreting the results in a human context. Future studies using more sophisticated preclinical models are imperative in order to explore deeper understanding regarding the impact of dietary fat on the development and progression of prostate cancer.
    Keywords:  animal model; diet; fat; in vitro; in vivo; mouse; prostate cancer
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8050597
  47. Cell Commun Signal. 2019 May 02. 17(1): 39
    Amino acid response by Halofuginone in Cancer cells triggers autophagy through proteasome degradation of mTOR.
    Carlo Follo, Chiara Vidoni, Federica Morani, Alessandra Ferraresi, Christian Seca, Ciro Isidoro.
       BACKGROUND: In the event of amino acid starvation, the cell activates two main protective pathways: Amino Acid starvation Response (AAR), to inhibit global translation, and autophagy, to recover the essential substrates from degradation of redundant self-components. Whether and how AAR and autophagy (ATG) are cross-regulated and at which point the two regulatory pathways intersect remain unknown. Here, we provide experimental evidence that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) specifically located at the lysosome level links the AAR with the autophagy pathway.
    METHODS: As an inducer of the AAR, we used halofuginone (HF), an alkaloid that binds to the prolyl-tRNA synthetase thus mimicking the unavailability of proline (PRO). Induction of AAR was determined assessing the phosphorylation of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 2α. Autophagy was monitored by assessing the processing and accumulation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 isoform B (LC3B) and sequestosome-1 (p62/SQSTM1) levels. The activity of mTORC1 was monitored through assessment of the phosphorylation of mTOR, (rp)S6 and 4E-BP1. Global protein synthesis was determined by puromycin incorporation assay. mTORC1 presence on the membrane of the lysosomes was monitored by cell fractionation and mTOR expression was determined by immunoblotting.
    RESULTS: In three different types of human cancer cells (thyroid cancer WRO cells, ovarian cancer OAW-42 cells, and breast cancer MCF-7 cells), HF induced both the AAR and the autophagy pathways time-dependently. In WRO cells, which showed the strongest induction of autophagy and of AAR, global protein synthesis was little if any affected. Consistently, 4E-BP1 and (rp)S6 were phosphorylated. Concomitantly, mTOR expression and activation declined along with its detachment from the lysosomes and its degradation by the proteasome, and with the nuclear translocation of transcription factor EB (TFEB), a transcription factor of many ATG genes. The extra supplementation of proline rescued all these effects.
    CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that the AAR and autophagy are mechanistically linked at the level of mTORC1, and that the lysosome is the central hub of the cross-talk between these two metabolic stress responses.
    Keywords:  Autophagy; Lysosome; Protein translation; Starvation; TFEB; mTORC1
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12964-019-0354-2
  48. Anal Chem. 2019 May 03.
    High-Throughput Nanoelectrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Microfluidic Droplet Samples.
    Daniel J Steyer, Robert T Kennedy.
      Droplet microfluidics enables high-throughput manipulation of fL-μL volume samples. Methods implemented for the chemical analysis of microfluidic droplets have been limited in scope, leaving some applications of droplet microfluidics difficult to perform or out of reach entirely. Nanoelectrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (nESI-MS) is an attractive approach for droplet analysis, because it allows rapid, label-free, information-rich analysis with high mass sensitivity and resistance to matrix effects. Previous proof-of-concept systems for the nESI-MS analysis of droplets have been limited by the microfluidics used so that stable, long-term operation needed for high-throughput applications has not been demonstrated. We describe a platform for the stable analysis of microfluidic droplet samples by nESI-MS. Continuous infusion of droplets to an nESI emitter was demonstrated for as long as 2.5 h, corresponding to analysis of over 20 000 samples. Stable signal was observed for droplets as small as 65 pL and for throughputs as high as 10 droplets/s. A linear-concentration-based response and sample-to-sample carryover of <3% were also shown. The system is demonstrated for measuring products of in-droplet enzymatic reactions.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b00571
  49. Cancers (Basel). 2019 Apr 27. pii: E591. [Epub ahead of print]11(5):
    Comprehensive Serum Glycopeptide Spectra Analysis (CSGSA): A Potential New Tool for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer.
    Masaru Hayashi, Koji Matsuo, Kazuhiro Tanabe, Masae Ikeda, Mariko Miyazawa, Miwa Yasaka, Hiroko Machida, Masako Shida, Tadashi Imanishi, Brendan H Grubbs, Takeshi Hirasawa, Mikio Mikami.
       OBJECTIVES: To conduct a comprehensive glycopeptide spectra analysis of serum between cancer and non-cancer patients to identify early biomarkers of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).
    METHODS: Approximately 30,000 glycopeptide peaks were detected from the digested serum glycoproteins of 39 EOC patients (23 early-stage, 16 advanced-stage) and 45 non-cancer patients (27 leiomyoma and ovarian cyst cases, 18 endometrioma cases) by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The differential glycopeptide peak spectra were analyzed to distinguish between cancer and non-cancer groups by employing multivariate analysis including principal component analysis (PCA), orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and heat maps.
    RESULTS: Examined spectral peaks were filtered down to 2281 serum quantitative glycopeptide signatures for differentiation between ovarian cancer and controls using multivariate analysis. The OPLS-DA model using cross-validation parameters R2 and Q2 and score plots of the serum samples significantly differentiated the EOC group from the non-cancer control group. In addition, women with early-stage clear cell carcinoma and endometriomas were clearly distinguished from each other by OPLS-DA as well as by PCA and heat maps.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the potential of comprehensive serum glycoprotein analysis as a useful tool for ovarian cancer detection.
    Keywords:  comprehensive serum glycopeptide spectra analysis; endometrioma; epithelial ovarian cancer; orthogonal partial square discrimination analysis; ovarian clear cell carcinoma
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11050591
  50. Metabolomics. 2019 Apr 29. 15(5): 69
    An integrated genomic and metabolomic approach for defining survival time in adult oligodendrogliomas patients.
    Caroline Bund, Mariana Guergova-Kuras, A Ercument Cicek, François-Marie Moussallieh, Nassim Dali-Youcef, Martial Piotto, Pilar Schneider, Rémy Heller, Natacha Entz-Werle, Benoît Lhermitte, Marie-Pierre Chenard, Roland Schott, François Proust, Georges Noël, Izzie Jacques Namer.
       INTRODUCTION: The identification of frequent acquired mutations shows that patients with oligodendrogliomas have divergent biology with differing prognoses regardless of histological classification. A better understanding of molecular features as well as their metabolic pathways is essential.
    OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the tumor metabolome, six genomic aberrations (isocitrate dehydrogenase1 [IDH1] mutation, 1p/19q codeletion, tumor protein p53 [TP53] mutation, O6-methylguanin-DNA methyltransferase [MGMT] promoter methylation, epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR] amplification, phosphate and tensin homolog [PTEN] methylation), and the patients' survival time.
    METHODS: We applied 1H high-resolution magic-angle spinning (HRMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to 72 resected oligodendrogliomas.
    RESULTS: The presence of IDH1, TP53, 1p19q codeletion, MGMT promoter methylation reduced the relative risk of death, whereas PTEN methylation and EGFR amplification were associated with poor prognosis. Increased concentration of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), myo-inositol and the glycerophosphocholine/phosphocholine (GPC/PC) ratio were good prognostic factors. Increasing the concentration of serine, glycine, glutamate and alanine led to an increased relative risk of death.
    CONCLUSION: HRMAS NMR spectroscopy provides accurate information on the metabolomics of oligodendrogliomas, making it possible to find new biomarkers indicative of survival. It enables rapid characterization of intact tissue and could be used as an intraoperative method.
    Keywords:  HRMAS-NMR spectroscopy; IDH; Metabolomics; Oligodendroglioma; Overall survival; PTEN
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-019-1522-5
  51. Cell Metab. 2019 Apr 18. pii: S1550-4131(19)30186-X. [Epub ahead of print]
    Cholesterol Induces CD8+ T Cell Exhaustion in the Tumor Microenvironment.
    Xingzhe Ma, Enguang Bi, Yong Lu, Pan Su, Chunjian Huang, Lintao Liu, Qiang Wang, Maojie Yang, Matthew F Kalady, Jianfei Qian, Aijun Zhang, Anisha A Gupte, Dale J Hamilton, Chengyun Zheng, Qing Yi.
      Tumor-infiltrating T cells often lose their effector function; however, the mechanisms are incompletely understood. We report that cholesterol in the tumor microenvironment induces CD8+ T cell expression of immune checkpoints and exhaustion. Tumor tissues enriched with cholesterol and cholesterol content in tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells were positively and progressively associated with upregulated T cell expression of PD-1, 2B4, TIM-3, and LAG-3. Adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells acquired cholesterol, expressed high levels of immune checkpoints, and became exhausted upon entering a tumor. Tumor culture supernatant or cholesterol induced immune checkpoint expression by increasing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in CD8+ T cells. Consequently, the ER stress sensor XBP1 was activated and regulated PD-1 and 2B4 transcription. Inhibiting XBP1 or reducing cholesterol in CD8+ T cells effectively restored antitumor activity. This study reveals a mechanism underlying T cell exhaustion and suggests a new strategy for restoring T cell function by reducing cholesterol to enhance T cell-based immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  CD8+ T cells; cholesterol; exhaustion; immune checkpoints; tumor microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.04.002
  52. Cancer Discov. 2019 May;9(5): 581-583
    Metabolic Checkpoint of Immune Cells in Melanoma Brain Metastases.
    Colt A Egelston, Kim Margolin.
      Metabolic features of both cancer cells and immune cells shift with nutrient availability in the tumor microenvironment, resulting in differential effects on antitumor immune function. The work of Fischer and colleagues demonstrates that increased oxidative phosphorylation in brain metastases in patients with melanoma is a key regulator of intracranial immune surveillance and that inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation could reduce the incidence of intracranial brain metastases in a murine model of melanoma.See related article by Fischer et al., p. 628.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-19-0249
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