bims-meprid 2022-12-04 papers

Issue of 2022‒12‒04
five papers selected by
Alessandro Carrer
Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine

Front Immunol. 2022 ;13 906127

Impact of ATP-citrate lyase catalytic activity and serine 455 phosphorylation on histone acetylation and inflammatory responses in human monocytic THP-1 cells.

Monica Dominguez, Verena Truemper, Ana Carolina Mota, Bernhard Brüne, Dmitry Namgaladze.

ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) is a key enzyme provoking metabolic and epigenetic gene regulation. Molecularly, these functions are exerted by the provision of acetyl-coenzyme A, which is then used as a substrate for de novo lipogenesis or as an acetyl-group donor in acetylation reactions. It has been demonstrated that ACLY activity can be positively regulated via phosphorylation at serine 455 by Akt and protein kinase A. Nonetheless, the impact of phosphorylation on ACLY function in human myeloid cells is poorly understood. In this study we reconstituted ACLY knockout human monocytic THP-1 cells with a wild type ACLY as well as catalytically inactive H760A, and phosphorylation-deficient S455A mutants. Using these cell lines, we determined the impact of ACLY activity and phosphorylation on histone acetylation and pro-inflammatory gene expression in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our results show that ACLY serine 455 phosphorylation does not influence the proper enzymatic function of ACLY, since both, wild type ACLY and phosphorylation-deficient mutant, exhibited increased cell growth and histone acetylation as compared to cells with a loss of ACLY activity. Transcriptome analysis revealed enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory and interferon response genes in ACLY knockout and H760A THP-1 cells under unstimulated or LPS-treated conditions. At the same time, S455A ACLY-expressing cells showed a phenotype very similar to wild type cells. Contrary to ACLY knockout, pharmacological inhibition of ACLY in THP-1 cells or in primary human macrophages does not enhance LPS-triggered pro-inflammatory gene expression. Our data thus suggest that ACLY retains functionality in the absence of Akt/PKA-mediated phosphorylation in human myeloid cells. Furthermore, loss of ACLY activity may elicit long-term adaptive mechanisms, increasing inflammatory responses.

Keywords: ATP-citrate lyase; histone acetylation; inflammation; macrophages; metabolism

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.906127

Nat Commun. 2022 Dec 02. 13(1): 7414

Nuclear localization of mitochondrial TCA cycle enzymes modulates pluripotency via histone acetylation.

Pluripotent stem cells hold great promise in regenerative medicine and developmental biology studies. Mitochondrial metabolites, including tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, have been reported to play critical roles in pluripotency. Here we show that TCA cycle enzymes including Pdha1, Pcb, Aco2, Cs, Idh3a, Ogdh, Sdha and Mdh2 are translocated to the nucleus during somatic cell reprogramming, primed-to-naive transition and totipotency acquisition. The nuclear-localized TCA cycle enzymes Pdha1, Pcb, Aco2, Cs, Idh3a promote somatic cell reprogramming and primed-to-naive transition. In addition, nuclear-localized TCA cycle enzymes, particularly nuclear-targeted Pdha1, facilitate the 2-cell program in pluripotent stem cells. Mechanistically, nuclear Pdha1 increases the acetyl-CoA and metabolite pool in the nucleus, leading to chromatin remodeling at pluripotency genes by enhancing histone H3 acetylation. Our results reveal an important role of mitochondrial TCA cycle enzymes in the epigenetic regulation of pluripotency that constitutes a mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde signaling mode in different states of pluripotent acquisition.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35199-0

Cell Rep. 2022 Nov 29. pii: S2211-1247(22)01619-9. [Epub ahead of print]41(9): 111741

Vitamin B5 rewires Th17 cell metabolism via impeding PKM2 nuclear translocation.

Chen Chen, Weiqiao Zhang, Tingyue Zhou, Qiuyuan Liu, Chao Han, Zonghui Huang, Si Chen, Qiao Mei, Cunjin Zhang, Kaiguang Zhang, Hongdi Ma, Rongbin Zhou, Wei Jiang, Wen Pan, Shu Zhu.

Metabolic rewiring is essential for Th17 cells' functional identity to sense and interpret environmental cues. However, the environmental metabolic checkpoints with specific regulation of Th17 cells, manifesting potential therapeutic opportunities to autoimmune diseases, remain largely unknown. Here, by screening more than one hundred compounds derived from intestinal microbes or diet, we found that vitamin B5 (VB5) restrains Th17 cell differentiation as well as related autoimmune diseases such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and colitis. Mechanistically, VB5 is catabolized into coenzyme A (CoA) in a pantothenate kinase (PANK)-dependent manner, and in turn, CoA binds to pyruvate kinase isoform 2 (PKM2) to impede its phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, thus inhibiting glycolysis and STAT3 phosphorylation. In humans, reduced serum VB5 levels are found in both IBD and MS patients. Collectively, our study demonstrates a role of VB5 in Th17 cell metabolic reprograming, thus providing a potential therapeutic intervention for Th17 cell-associated autoimmune diseases.

Keywords: CP: Immunology; CP: Microbiology; CoA; PKM2; Th17; glucose metabolism; vitamin B5

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111741

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Dec 06. 119(49): e2212220119

Acetyl-CoA-mediated autoacetylation of fatty acid synthase as a metabolic switch of de novo lipogenesis in Drosophila.

Ting Miao, Jinoh Kim, Ping Kang, Hideji Fujiwara, Fong-Fu Hsu, Hua Bai.

De novo lipogenesis is a highly regulated metabolic process, which is known to be activated through transcriptional regulation of lipogenic genes, including fatty acid synthase (FASN). Unexpectedly, we find that the expression of FASN protein remains unchanged during Drosophila larval development from the second to the third instar larval stages (L2 to L3) when lipogenesis is hyperactive. Instead, acetylation of FASN is significantly upregulated in fast-growing larvae. We further show that lysine K813 residue is highly acetylated in developing larvae, and its acetylation is required for elevated FASN activity, body fat accumulation, and normal development. Intriguingly, K813 is autoacetylated by acetyl-CoA (AcCoA) in a dosage-dependent manner independent of acetyltransferases. Mechanistically, the autoacetylation of K813 is mediated by a novel P-loop-like motif (N-xx-G-x-A). Lastly, we find that K813 is deacetylated by Sirt1, which brings FASN activity to baseline level. In summary, this work uncovers a previously unappreciated role of FASN acetylation in developmental lipogenesis and a novel mechanism for protein autoacetylation, through which Drosophila larvae control metabolic homeostasis by linking AcCoA, lysine acetylation, and de novo lipogenesis.

Keywords: FASN; acetyl-CoA; animal development; autoacetylation; de novo lipogenesis

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2212220119

Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 Nov 30. 79(12): 611

An active glutamine/α-ketoglutarate/HIF-1α axis prevents pregnancy loss by triggering decidual IGF1+GDF15+NK cell differentiation.

Shao-Liang Yang, Hai-Xia Tan, Zhen-Zhen Lai, Hai-Yan Peng, Hui-Li Yang, Qiang Fu, Hai-Yan Wang, Da-Jin Li, Ming-Qing Li.

Deficiency of decidual NK (dNK) cell number and function has been widely regarded as an important cause of spontaneous abortion. However, the metabolic mechanism underlying the crosstalk between dNK cells and embryonic trophoblasts during early pregnancy remains largely unknown. Here, we observed that enriched glutamine and activated glutaminolysis in dNK cells contribute to trophoblast invasion and embryo growth by insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) secretion. Mechanistically, these processes are dependent on the downregulation of EGLN1-HIF-1α mediated by α-ketoglutarate (α-KG). Blocking glutaminolysis with the GLS inhibitor BPTES or the glutamate dehydrogenase inhibitor EGCG leads to early embryo implantation failure, spontaneous abortion and/or fetal growth restriction in pregnant mice with impaired trophoblast invasion. Additionally, α-KG supplementation significantly alleviated pregnancy loss mediated by defective glutaminolysis in vivo, suggesting that inactivated glutamine/α-ketoglutarate metabolism in dNK cells impaired trophoblast invasion and induced pregnancy loss.

Keywords: Decidual NK cells; GDF-15; Glutamine metabolism; IGF-1; Spontaneous abortion; α-Ketoglutarate

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-022-04639-x