bims-meprid 2022-10-02 papers

Issue of 2022‒10‒02
six papers selected by
Alessandro Carrer
Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine

World J Stem Cells. 2022 Jul 26. 14(7): 490-502

Metabolic-epigenetic nexus in regulation of stem cell fate.

Yi Liu, Di-Xin Cui, Yue Pan, Si-Han Yu, Li-Wei Zheng, Mian Wan.

Stem cell fate determination is one of the central questions in stem cell biology, and although its regulation has been studied at genomic and proteomic levels, a variety of biological activities in cells occur at the metabolic level. Metabolomics studies have established the metabolome during stem cell differentiation and have revealed the role of metabolites in stem cell fate determination. While metabolism is considered to play a biological regulatory role as an energy source, recent studies have suggested the nexus between metabolism and epigenetics because several metabolites function as cofactors and substrates in epigenetic mechanisms, including histone modification, DNA methylation, and microRNAs. Additionally, the epigenetic modification is sensitive to the dynamic metabolites and consequently leads to changes in transcription. The nexus between metabolism and epigenetics proposes a novel stem cell-based therapeutic strategy through manipulating metabolites. In the present review, we summarize the possible nexus between metabolic and epigenetic regulation in stem cell fate determination, and discuss the potential preventive and therapeutic strategies via targeting metabolites.

Keywords: Epigenetic regulation; Metabolism; Nexus effect; Stem cell fate

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4252/wjsc.v14.i7.490

Front Immunol. 2022 ;13 981285

Function and mechanism of histone β-hydroxybutyrylation in health and disease.

Tingting Zhou, Xi Cheng, Yanqiu He, Yumei Xie, Fangyuan Xu, Yong Xu, Wei Huang.

Histone post-translational modifications (HPTMs) are essential epigenetic mechanisms that affect chromatin-associated nuclear processes without altering the DNA sequence. With the application of mass spectrometry-based proteomics, novel histone lysine acylation, such as propionylation, butyrylation, crotonylation, malonylation, succinylation, glutarylation, and lactoylation have been successively discovered. The emerging diversity of the lysine acylation landscape prompted us to investigate the function and mechanism of these novel HPTMs in health and disease. Recently, it has been reported that β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the main component of the ketone body, has various protective roles beyond alternative fuel provision during starvation. Histone lysine β-hydroxybutyrylation (Kbhb) is a novel HPTMs identified by mass spectrometry, which regulates gene transcription in response to carbohydrate restriction or elevated BHB levels in vivo and vitro. Recent studies have shown that histone Kbhb is strongly associated with the pathogenesis of metabolic cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, tumors, neuropsychiatric disorders, and metabolic diseases suggesting it has different functions from histone acetylation and methylation. This review focuses on the writers, erasers, sites, and underlying functions of histone Kbhb, providing a glimpse into their complex regulation mechanism.

Keywords: epigenetics; gene regulation; histone post-translational modifications; immune; β-hydroxybutyrylation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.981285

Cell Discov. 2022 Sep 27. 8(1): 96

Metabolic control of histone acetylation for precise and timely regulation of minor ZGA in early mammalian embryos.

Jingyu Li, Jiaming Zhang, Weibo Hou, Xu Yang, Xiaoyu Liu, Yan Zhang, Meiling Gao, Ming Zong, Zhixiong Dong, Zhonghua Liu, Jingling Shen, Weitao Cong, Chunming Ding, Shaorong Gao, Guoning Huang, Qingran Kong.

Metabolism feeds into the regulation of epigenetics via metabolic enzymes and metabolites. However, metabolic features, and their impact on epigenetic remodeling during mammalian pre-implantation development, remain poorly understood. In this study, we established the metabolic landscape of mouse pre-implantation embryos from zygote to blastocyst, and quantified some absolute carbohydrate metabolites. We integrated these data with transcriptomic and proteomic data, and discovered the metabolic characteristics of the development process, including the activation of methionine cycle from 8-cell embryo to blastocyst, high glutaminolysis metabolism at blastocyst stage, enhanced TCA cycle activity from the 8-cell embryo stage, and active glycolysis in the blastocyst. We further demonstrated that oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) synthesis is indispensable for mouse pre-implantation development. Mechanistically, in part, NAD+ is required for the exit of minor zygotic gene activation (ZGA) by cooperating with SIRT1 to remove zygotic H3K27ac. In human, NAD+ supplement can promote the removal of zygotic H3K27ac and benefit pre-implantation development. Our findings demonstrate that precise and timely regulation of minor ZGA is controlled by metabolic dynamics, and enhance our understanding of the metabolism of mammalian early embryos.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41421-022-00440-z

Nature. 2022 Sep 28.

An LKB1-mitochondria axis controls TH17 effector function.

CD4+ T cell differentiation requires metabolic reprogramming to fulfil the bioenergetic demands of proliferation and effector function, and enforce specific transcriptional programmes1-3. Mitochondrial membrane dynamics sustains mitochondrial processes4, including respiration and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolism5, but whether mitochondrial membrane remodelling orchestrates CD4+ T cell differentiation remains unclear. Here we show that unlike other CD4+ T cell subsets, T helper 17 (TH17) cells have fused mitochondria with tight cristae. T cell-specific deletion of optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), which regulates inner mitochondrial membrane fusion and cristae morphology6, revealed that TH17 cells require OPA1 for its control of the TCA cycle, rather than respiration. OPA1 deletion amplifies glutamine oxidation, leading to impaired NADH/NAD+ balance and accumulation of TCA cycle metabolites and 2-hydroxyglutarate-a metabolite that influences the epigenetic landscape5,7. Our multi-omics approach revealed that the serine/threonine kinase liver-associated kinase B1 (LKB1) couples mitochondrial function to cytokine expression in TH17 cells by regulating TCA cycle metabolism and transcriptional remodelling. Mitochondrial membrane disruption activates LKB1, which restrains IL-17 expression. LKB1 deletion restores IL-17 expression in TH17 cells with disrupted mitochondrial membranes, rectifying aberrant TCA cycle glutamine flux, balancing NADH/NAD+ and preventing 2-hydroxyglutarate production from the promiscuous activity of the serine biosynthesis enzyme phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH). These findings identify OPA1 as a major determinant of TH17 cell function, and uncover LKB1 as a sensor linking mitochondrial cues to effector programmes in TH17 cells.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05264-1

Science. 2022 Sep 30. 377(6614): 1519-1529

Oncometabolite d-2HG alters T cell metabolism to impair CD8+ T cell function.

Gain-of-function mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) in human cancers result in the production of d-2-hydroxyglutarate (d-2HG), an oncometabolite that promotes tumorigenesis through epigenetic alterations. The cancer cell-intrinsic effects of d-2HG are well understood, but its tumor cell-nonautonomous roles remain poorly explored. We compared the oncometabolite d-2HG with its enantiomer, l-2HG, and found that tumor-derived d-2HG was taken up by CD8+ T cells and altered their metabolism and antitumor functions in an acute and reversible fashion. We identified the glycolytic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as a molecular target of d-2HG. d-2HG and inhibition of LDH drive a metabolic program and immune CD8+ T cell signature marked by decreased cytotoxicity and impaired interferon-γ signaling that was recapitulated in clinical samples from human patients with IDH1 mutant gliomas.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj5104

iScience. 2022 Oct 21. 25(10): 105086

Chemical inhibition of oxygen-sensing prolyl hydroxylases impairs angiogenic competence of human vascular endothelium through metabolic reprogramming.

Ratnakar Tiwari, Prashant V Bommi, Peng Gao, Matthew J Schipma, Yalu Zhou, Susan E Quaggin, Navdeep S Chandel, Pinelopi P Kapitsinou.

Endothelial cell (EC) metabolism has emerged as a driver of angiogenesis. While hypoxia inactivates the oxygen sensors prolyl-4 hydroxylase domain-containing proteins 1-3 (PHD1-3) and stimulates angiogenesis, the effects of PHDs on EC functions remain poorly defined. Here, we investigated the impact of chemical PHD inhibition by dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) on angiogenic competence and metabolism of human vascular ECs. DMOG reduced EC proliferation, migration, and tube formation capacities, responses that were associated with an unfavorable metabolic reprogramming. While glycolytic genes were induced, multiple genes encoding sub-units of mitochondrial complex I were suppressed with concurrent decline in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) levels. Importantly, the DMOG-induced defects in EC migration could be partially rescued by augmenting NAD+ levels through nicotinamide riboside or citrate supplementation. In summary, by integrating functional assays, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, we provide insights into the effects of PHD inhibition on angiogenic competence and metabolism of human vascular ECs.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Metabolomics; Transcriptomics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105086