bims-camemi Biomed News
on Mitochondrial metabolism in cancer
Issue of 2020–08–09
forty-six papers selected by
Christian Frezza, , University of Cambridge, MRC Cancer Unit
  1. Induction of a Timed Metabolic Collapse to Overcome Cancer Chemoresistance.
  2. Polyamine pathway activity promotes cysteine essentiality in cancer cells.
  3. Selective NADH communication from α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase to mitochondrial transhydrogenase prevents reactive oxygen species formation under reducing conditions in the heart.
  4. Cytosolic NUAK1 Enhances ATP Production by Maintaining Proper Glycolysis and Mitochondrial Function in Cancer Cells.
  5. Mechanism of succinate efflux upon reperfusion of the ischemic heart.
  6. Mitochondrial calcium drives clock gene-dependent activation of pyruvate dehydrogenase and of oxidative phosphorylation.
  7. Mitochondrial Metabolism in PDAC: From Better Knowledge to New Targeting Strategies.
  8. Heme Synthesis Inhibition Blocks Angiogenesis via Mitochondrial Dysfunction.
  9. Mitochondrial DNA drives abscopal responses to radiation that are inhibited by autophagy.
  10. Mitochondrial volume fraction and translation duration impact mitochondrial mRNA localization and protein synthesis.
  11. Investigating mitochondrial autophagy by routine transmission electron microscopy: seeing is believing?
  12. Mitochondrial pathways in human health and aging.
  13. Direct and quantitative analysis of altered metabolic flux distributions and cellular ATP production pathway in fumarate hydratase-diminished cells.
  14. Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage Underlies Regulatory T Cell Defects in Autoimmunity.
  15. Mitochondrial complex I structure reveals ordered water molecules for catalysis and proton translocation.
  16. A Vectorial, ER-Mitochondria Link to Energy Homeostasis in the Vascular Endothelium.
  17. Mitochondrial DNA mutation exacerbates female reproductive aging via impairment of the NADH/NAD+ redox.
  18. Mitochondria-Associated ER Membranes - The Origin Site of Autophagy.
  19. Altered MICOS Morphology and Mitochondrial Ion Homeostasis Contribute to Poly(GR) Toxicity Associated with C9-ALS/FTD.
  20. Implications of TP53 allelic state for genome stability, clinical presentation and outcomes in myelodysplastic syndromes.
  21. Methylation of Ribosomal RNA: A Mitochondrial Perspective.
  22. Cellular sensing of extracellular purine nucleosides triggers an innate IFN-β response.
  23. Memory CD8+ T Cells Balance Pro- and Anti-inflammatory Activity by Reprogramming Cellular Acetate Handling at Sites of Infection.
  24. The C-terminal region of the oxidoreductase MIA40 stabilizes its cytosolic precursor during mitochondrial import.
  25. Multiplexed Optical Sensors in Arrayed Islands of Cells for multimodal recordings of cellular physiology.
  26. Metabolic conditioning of CD8+ effector T cells for adoptive cell therapy.
  27. IsoSearch: An Untargeted and Unbiased Metabolite and Lipid Isotopomer Tracing Strategy from HR-LC-MS/MS Datasets.
  28. Flux through mitochondrial redox circuits linked to nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase generates counterbalance changes in energy expenditure.
  29. Inhibition of mitophagy drives macrophage activation and anti-bacterial defense during sepsis.
  30. Using Expansion Microscopy to Visualize and Characterize the Morphology of Mitochondrial Cristae.
  31. Skeletal muscle energy metabolism during exercise.
  32. Mammalian Atg8 proteins and the autophagy factor IRGM control mTOR and TFEB at a regulatory node critical for responses to pathogens.
  33. The Significance of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cancer.
  34. RNA: a double-edged sword in genome maintenance.
  35. Hysteresis and bistability in the succinate-CoQ reductase activity and reactive oxygen species production in the mitochondrial respiratory complex II.
  36. ILC2-driven innate immune checkpoint mechanism antagonizes NK cell antimetastatic function in the lung.
  37. Accelerated transsulfuration metabolically defines a discrete subclass of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.
  38. Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) regulates mitochondrial ROS and endothelial dysfunction in response to angiotensin II.
  39. Tuberous sclerosis 1 (Tsc1) mediated mTORC1 activation promotes glycolysis in tubular epithelial cells in kidney fibrosis.
  40. Stable Isotope Tracing Metabolomics to Investigate the Metabolic Activity of Bioactive Compounds for Cancer Prevention and Treatment.
  41. Metabolic communication during exercise.
  42. Exploiting the circuit breaker cancer evolution model in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
  43. DRP1 promotes lactate utilization in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer cells.
  44. Reprogramming of host glutamine metabolism during Chlamydia trachomatis infection and its key role in peptidoglycan synthesis.
  45. Increased protein propionylation contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction in liver cells and fibroblasts, but not in myotubes.
  46. Metabolic competition between host and pathogen dictates inflammasome responses to fungal infection.
  1. Cell Metab. 2020 Jul 30. pii: S1550-4131(20)30367-3. [Epub ahead of print]
    Induction of a Timed Metabolic Collapse to Overcome Cancer Chemoresistance.
    Nick van Gastel, Jessica B Spinelli, Azeem Sharda, Amir Schajnovitz, Ninib Baryawno, Catherine Rhee, Toshihiko Oki, Eliane Grace, Heather J Soled, Jelena Milosevic, David B Sykes, Peggy P Hsu, Matthew G Vander Heiden, Charles Vidoudez, Sunia A Trauger, Marcia C Haigis, David T Scadden.
      Cancer relapse begins when malignant cells pass through the extreme metabolic bottleneck of stress from chemotherapy and the byproducts of the massive cell death in the surrounding region. In acute myeloid leukemia, complete remissions are common, but few are cured. We tracked leukemia cells in vivo, defined the moment of maximal response following chemotherapy, captured persisting cells, and conducted unbiased metabolomics, revealing a metabolite profile distinct from the pre-chemo growth or post-chemo relapse phase. Persisting cells used glutamine in a distinctive manner, preferentially fueling pyrimidine and glutathione generation, but not the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle. Notably, malignant cell pyrimidine synthesis also required aspartate provided by specific bone marrow stromal cells. Blunting glutamine metabolism or pyrimidine synthesis selected against residual leukemia-initiating cells and improved survival in leukemia mouse models and patient-derived xenografts. We propose that timed cell-intrinsic or niche-focused metabolic disruption can exploit a transient vulnerability and induce metabolic collapse in cancer cells to overcome chemoresistance.
    Keywords:  acute myeloid leukemia; aspartate; bone marrow niche; cell metabolism; chemotherapy; glutamine; mouse models; patient-derived xenografts; pyrimidine synthesis; tumor microenvironment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.07.009
  2. Nat Metab. 2020 Aug 03.
    Polyamine pathway activity promotes cysteine essentiality in cancer cells.
    Tong Zhang, Christin Bauer, Alice C Newman, Alejandro Huerta Uribe, Dimitris Athineos, Karen Blyth, Oliver D K Maddocks.
      Cancer cells have high demands for non-essential amino acids (NEAAs), which are precursors for anabolic and antioxidant pathways that support cell survival and proliferation. It is well-established that cancer cells consume the NEAA cysteine, and that cysteine deprivation can induce cell death; however, the specific factors governing acute sensitivity to cysteine starvation are poorly characterized. Here, we show that that neither expression of enzymes for cysteine synthesis nor availability of the primary precursor methionine correlated with acute sensitivity to cysteine starvation. We observed a strong correlation between efflux of the methionine-derived metabolite methylthioadenosine (MTA) and sensitivity to cysteine starvation. MTA efflux results from genetic deletion of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), which is frequently deleted in cancers. We show that MTAP loss upregulates polyamine metabolism which, concurrently with cysteine withdrawal, promotes elevated reactive oxygen species and prevents cell survival. Our results reveal an unexplored metabolic weakness at the intersection of polyamine and cysteine metabolism.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0253-2
  3. Basic Res Cardiol. 2020 Aug 03. 115(5): 53
    Selective NADH communication from α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase to mitochondrial transhydrogenase prevents reactive oxygen species formation under reducing conditions in the heart.
    Michael Wagner, Edoardo Bertero, Alexander Nickel, Michael Kohlhaas, Gary E Gibson, Ward Heggermont, Stephane Heymans, Christoph Maack.
      In heart failure, a functional block of complex I of the respiratory chain provokes superoxide generation, which is transformed to H2O2 by dismutation. The Krebs cycle produces NADH, which delivers electrons to complex I, and NADPH for H2O2 elimination via isocitrate dehydrogenase and nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT). At high NADH levels, α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (α-KGDH) is a major source of superoxide in skeletal muscle mitochondria with low NNT activity. Here, we analyzed how α-KGDH and NNT control H2O2 emission in cardiac mitochondria. In cardiac mitochondria from NNT-competent BL/6N mice, H2O2 emission is equally low with pyruvate/malate (P/M) or α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) as substrates. Complex I inhibition with rotenone increases H2O2 emission from P/M, but not α-KG respiring mitochondria, which is potentiated by depleting H2O2-eliminating capacity. Conversely, in NNT-deficient BL/6J mitochondria, H2O2 emission is higher with α-KG than with P/M as substrate, and further potentiated by complex I blockade. Prior depletion of H2O2-eliminating capacity increases H2O2 emission from P/M, but not α-KG respiring mitochondria. In cardiac myocytes, downregulation of α-KGDH activity impaired dynamic mitochondrial redox adaptation during workload transitions, without increasing H2O2 emission. In conclusion, NADH from α-KGDH selectively shuttles to NNT for NADPH formation rather than to complex I of the respiratory chain for ATP production. Therefore, α-KGDH plays a key role for H2O2 elimination, but is not a relevant source of superoxide in heart. In heart failure, α-KGDH/NNT-dependent NADPH formation ameliorates oxidative stress imposed by complex I blockade. Downregulation of α-KGDH may, therefore, predispose to oxidative stress in heart failure.
    Keywords:  Mitochondria; Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase; Reactive oxygen species; α-Ketoglutarate dehydrogenase
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00395-020-0815-1
  4. Front Oncol. 2020 ;10 1123
    Cytosolic NUAK1 Enhances ATP Production by Maintaining Proper Glycolysis and Mitochondrial Function in Cancer Cells.
    Emilia Escalona, Marcelo Muñoz, Roxana Pincheira, Álvaro A Elorza, Ariel F Castro.
      NUAK1 is an AMPK-related kinase located in the cytosol and the nucleus, whose expression associates with tumor malignancy and poor patient prognosis in several cancers. Accordingly, NUAK1 was associated with metastasis because it promotes cell migration and invasion in different cancer cells. Besides, NUAK1 supports cancer cell survival under metabolic stress and maintains ATP levels in hepatocarcinoma cells, suggesting a role in energy metabolism in cancer. However, the underlying mechanism for this metabolic function, as well as its link to NUAK1 subcellular localization, is unclear. We demonstrated that cytosolic NUAK1 increases ATP levels, which associates with increased mitochondrial respiration, supporting that cytosolic NUAK1 is involved in mitochondrial function regulation in cancer cells. NUAK1 inhibition led to the formation of "donut-like" structures, providing evidence of NUAK1-dependent mitochondrial morphology regulation. Additionally, our results indicated that cytosolic NUAK1 increases the glycolytic capacity of cancer cells under mitochondrial inhibition. Nuclear NUAK1 seems to be involved in the metabolic switch to glycolysis. Altogether, our results suggest that cytosolic NUAK1 participates in mitochondrial ATP production and the maintenance of proper glycolysis in cancer cells. Our current studies support the role of NUAK1 in bioenergetics, mitochondrial homeostasis, glycolysis and metabolic capacities. They suggest different metabolic outcomes depending on its subcellular localization. The identified roles of NUAK1 in cancer metabolism provide a potential mechanism relevant for tumor progression and its association with poor patient prognosis in several cancers. Further studies could shed light on the molecular mechanisms involved in the identified metabolic NUAK1 functions.
    Keywords:  NUAK1; cancer metabolism; cell bioenergetic; glycolytic switch; mitochondrial donut; oxidative cells; seahorse assay
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2020.01123
  5. Cardiovasc Res. 2020 Aug 07. pii: cvaa148. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mechanism of succinate efflux upon reperfusion of the ischemic heart.
    Hiran A Prag, Anja V Gruszczyk, Margaret M Huang, Timothy E Beach, Timothy Young, Laura Tronci, Efterpi Nikitopoulou, John F Mulvey, Raimondo Ascione, Anna Hadjihambi, Michael J Shattock, Luc Pellerin, Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Christian Frezza, Andrew M James, Thomas Krieg, Michael P Murphy, Dunja Aksentijević.
       AIMS: Succinate accumulates several-fold in the ischemic heart and is then rapidly oxidised upon reperfusion, contributing to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by mitochondria. In addition, a significant amount of the accumulated succinate is released from the heart into the circulation at reperfusion, potentially activating the G-protein coupled succinate receptor (SUCNR1). However, the factors that determine the proportion of succinate oxidation or release, and the mechanism of this release, are not known.
    METHODS AND RESULTS: To address these questions, we assessed the fate of accumulated succinate upon reperfusion of anoxic cardiomyocytes, and of the ischemic heart both ex vivo and in vivo. The release of accumulated succinate was selective and was enhanced by acidification of the intracellular milieu. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition, or haploinsufficiency of the monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) significantly decreased succinate efflux from the reperfused heart.
    CONCLUSION: Succinate release upon reperfusion of the ischemic heart is mediated by MCT1 and is facilitated by the acidification of the myocardium during ischemia. These findings will allow the signalling interaction between succinate released from reperfused ischemic myocardium and SUCNR1 to be explored.
    TRANSLATIONAL PERSPECTIVES: In this study we demonstrate that succinate efflux upon reperfusion of the ischemic myocardium is mediated by the monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) and is enhanced by the ischemic acidification of the heart. These findings are an important advance in understanding how succinate is released upon reperfusion of ischemic organs. While this pathway is therapeutically tractable, greater understanding of the effects of succinate release is required before exploring this possibility.
    Keywords:  Ischemia/reperfusion injury; MCT1 transporter; Mitochondria; SUCNR1; Succinate
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvaa148
  6. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2020 Aug 04. pii: S0167-4889(20)30173-7. [Epub ahead of print] 118815
    Mitochondrial calcium drives clock gene-dependent activation of pyruvate dehydrogenase and of oxidative phosphorylation.
    Rosella Scrima, Olga Cela, Francesca Agriesti, Claudia Piccoli, Tiziana Tataranni, Consiglia Pacelli, Gianluigi Mazzoccoli, Nazzareno Capitanio.
      Regulation of metabolism is emerging as a major output of circadian clock circuitry in mammals. Accordingly, mitochondrial oxidative metabolism undergoes both in vivo and in vitro daily oscillatory activities. In the present study we show that both glycolysis and mitochondrial oxygen consumption display a similar time-resolved rhythmic activity in synchronized HepG2 cell cultures, which translates in overall bioenergetic changes as documented by measurement of the ATP level. Treatment of synchronized cells with specific metabolic inhibitors unveiled pyruvate as a major source of reducing equivalents to the respiratory chain with its oxidation driven by the rhythmic (de)phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase. Further investigation enabled to causally link the autonomous cadenced mitochondrial respiration to a synchronous increase of the mitochondrial Ca2+. The rhythmic change of the mitochondrial respiration was dampened by inhibitors of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter as well as of the ryanodine receptor Ca2+ channel or the ADPR cyclase, indicating that the mitochondrial Ca2+ influx originated from the ER store, likely at contact sites with the mitochondrial compartment. Notably, blockage of the mitochondrial Ca2+ influx resulted in deregulation of the expression of canonical clock genes such as BMALl1, CLOCK, NR1D1. All together our findings unveil a hitherto unexplored function of Ca2+-mediated signaling in time keeping the mitochondrial metabolism and in its feed-back modulation of the circadian clockwork.
    Keywords:  Circadian clock-genes; Inter-organelle communication; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial calcium signaling; Oxidative phosphorylation; Pyruvate dehydrogenase
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118815
  7. Biomedicines. 2020 Aug 03. pii: E270. [Epub ahead of print]8(8):
    Mitochondrial Metabolism in PDAC: From Better Knowledge to New Targeting Strategies.
    Gabriela Reyes-Castellanos, Rawand Masoud, Alice Carrier.
      Cancer cells reprogram their metabolism to meet bioenergetics and biosynthetic demands. The first observation of metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells was made a century ago ("Warburg effect" or aerobic glycolysis), leading to the classical view that cancer metabolism relies on a glycolytic phenotype. There is now accumulating evidence that most cancers also rely on mitochondria to satisfy their metabolic needs. Indeed, the current view of cancer metabolism places mitochondria as key actors in all facets of cancer progression. Importantly, mitochondrial metabolism has become a very promising target in cancer therapy, including for refractory cancers such as Pancreatic Ductal AdenoCarcinoma (PDAC). In particular, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is an important target in cancer therapy. Other therapeutic strategies include the targeting of glutamine and fatty acids metabolism, as well as the inhibition of the TriCarboxylic Acid (TCA) cycle intermediates. A better knowledge of how pancreatic cancer cells regulate mitochondrial metabolism will allow the identification of metabolic vulnerabilities and thus novel and more efficient therapeutic options for the benefit of each patient.
    Keywords:  OXPHOS; biguanides; cancer metabolism; energetic metabolism; metabolic heterogeneity; mitochondria; mitochondrial complex I; mitochondrial metabolism; pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; therapeutic strategy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines8080270
  8. iScience. 2020 Jul 20. pii: S2589-0042(20)30579-4. [Epub ahead of print]23(8): 101391
    Heme Synthesis Inhibition Blocks Angiogenesis via Mitochondrial Dysfunction.
    Trupti Shetty, Kamakshi Sishtla, Bomina Park, Matthew J Repass, Timothy W Corson.
      The relationship between heme metabolism and angiogenesis is poorly understood. The final synthesis of heme occurs in mitochondria, where ferrochelatase (FECH) inserts Fe2+ into protoporphyrin IX to produce proto-heme IX. We previously showed that FECH inhibition is antiangiogenic in human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRECs) and in animal models of ocular neovascularization. In the present study, we sought to understand the mechanism of how FECH and thus heme is involved in endothelial cell function. Mitochondria in endothelial cells had several defects in function after heme inhibition. FECH loss changed the shape and mass of mitochondria and led to significant oxidative stress. Oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial Complex IV were decreased in HRECs and in murine retina ex vivo after heme depletion. Supplementation with heme partially rescued phenotypes of FECH blockade. These findings provide an unexpected link between mitochondrial heme metabolism and angiogenesis.
    Keywords:  Cell Biology; Developmental Genetics; Physiology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101391
  9. Nat Immunol. 2020 Aug 03.
    Mitochondrial DNA drives abscopal responses to radiation that are inhibited by autophagy.
    Takahiro Yamazaki, Alexander Kirchmair, Ai Sato, Aitziber Buqué, Marissa Rybstein, Giulia Petroni, Norma Bloy, Francesca Finotello, Lena Stafford, Esther Navarro Manzano, Francisco Ayala de la Peña, Elena García-Martínez, Silvia C Formenti, Zlatko Trajanoski, Lorenzo Galluzzi.
      Autophagy supports both cellular and organismal homeostasis. However, whether autophagy should be inhibited or activated for cancer therapy remains unclear. Deletion of essential autophagy genes increased the sensitivity of mouse mammary carcinoma cells to radiation therapy in vitro and in vivo (in immunocompetent syngeneic hosts). Autophagy-deficient cells secreted increased amounts of type I interferon (IFN), which could be limited by CGAS or STING knockdown, mitochondrial DNA depletion or mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization blockage via BCL2 overexpression or BAX deletion. In vivo, irradiated autophagy-incompetent mammary tumors elicited robust immunity, leading to improved control of distant nonirradiated lesions via systemic type I IFN signaling. Finally, a genetic signature of autophagy had negative prognostic value in patients with breast cancer, inversely correlating with mitochondrial abundance, type I IFN signaling and effector immunity. As clinically useful autophagy inhibitors are elusive, our findings suggest that mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization may represent a valid target for boosting radiation therapy immunogenicity in patients with breast cancer.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-020-0751-0
  10. Elife. 2020 Aug 07. pii: e57814. [Epub ahead of print]9
    Mitochondrial volume fraction and translation duration impact mitochondrial mRNA localization and protein synthesis.
    Tatsuhisa Tsuboi, Matheus P Viana, Fan Xu, Jingwen Yu, Raghav Chanchani, Ximena G Arceo, Evelina Tutucci, Joonhyuk Choi, Yang S Chen, Robert H Singer, Susanne M Rafelski, Brian M Zid.
      Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that must precisely control their protein composition according to cellular energy demand. Although nuclear-encoded mRNAs can be localized to the mitochondrial surface, the importance of this localization is unclear. As yeast switch to respiratory metabolism, there is an increase in the fraction of the cytoplasm that is mitochondrial. Our data point to this change in mitochondrial volume fraction increasing the localization of certain nuclear-encoded mRNAs to the surface of the mitochondria. We show that mitochondrial mRNA localization is necessary and sufficient to increase protein production to levels required during respiratory growth. Furthermore, we find that ribosome stalling impacts mRNA sensitivity to mitochondrial volume fraction and counterintuitively leads to enhanced protein synthesis by increasing mRNA localization to mitochondria. This points to a mechanism by which cells are able to use translation elongation and the geometric constraints of the cell to fine-tune organelle-specific gene expression through mRNA localization.
    Keywords:  S. cerevisiae; cell biology; chromosomes; gene expression; mRNA localization; mitochondria; protein synthesis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57814
  11. Pharmacol Res. 2020 Jul 30. pii: S1043-6618(20)31405-5. [Epub ahead of print] 105097
    Investigating mitochondrial autophagy by routine transmission electron microscopy: seeing is believing?
    Joy Chakraborty, Federico Caicci, Moumita Roy, Elena Ziviani.
      Mitochondrial autophagy is affected in many diseases. In the past few years, the multiple-steps process of selective degradation of mitochondria has been dissected in details by combining outcomes from different approaches. Perhaps one of the most rigorous methods to clearly visualise mitochondria undergoing autophagic engulfment and degradation, is transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In this opinion paper, we want to give a brief summary of the mitophagic process, and by which means mitophagy can be addressed, including TEM analysis. We will report examples of autophagy and mitophagy-related TEM images, and discuss how to decipher the different steps of the mitophagic process by routine TEM. In our opinion, this technique can be used as a powerful confirmatory approach for mitochondrial autophagy, and can provide details of the organelle fate throughout the course of mitophagy with no substantial sample manipulation.
    Keywords:  Autophagy; Mitophagy; Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105097
  12. Mitochondrion. 2020 Jul 29. pii: S1567-7249(20)30169-0. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial pathways in human health and aging.
    Rebecca Bornstein, Brenda Gonzalez, Simon C Johnson.
      Mitochondria are eukaryotic organelles known best for their roles in energy production and metabolism. While often thought of as simply the 'powerhouse of the cell,' these organelles participate in a variety of critical cellular processes including reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, regulation of programmed cell death, modulation of inter- and intracellular nutrient signaling pathways, and maintenance of cellular proteostasis. Disrupted mitochondrial function is a hallmark of eukaryotic aging, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported to play a role in many aging-related diseases. While mitochondria are major players in human diseases, significant questions remain regarding their precise mechanistic role. In this review, we detail mechanisms by which mitochondrial dysfunction participate in disease and aging based on findings from model organisms and human genetics studies.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2020.07.007
  13. Sci Rep. 2020 Aug 03. 10(1): 13065
    Direct and quantitative analysis of altered metabolic flux distributions and cellular ATP production pathway in fumarate hydratase-diminished cells.
    Shingo Noguchi, Hirokazu Ishikawa, Kenichi Wakita, Fumio Matsuda, Hiroshi Shimizu.
      Fumarate hydratase (FH) is an enzyme in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, biallelic loss-of-function mutations of which are associated with hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer. However, how FH defect modulates intracellular metabolic fluxes in human cells has remained unclear. This study aimed to reveal metabolic flux alterations induced by reduced FH activity. We applied 13C metabolic flux analysis (13C-MFA) to an established cell line with diminished FH activity (FHdim) and parental HEK293 cells. FHdim cells showed reduced pyruvate import flux into mitochondria and subsequent TCA cycle fluxes. Interestingly, the diminished FH activity decreased FH flux only by about 20%, suggesting a very low need for FH to maintain the oxidative TCA cycle. Cellular ATP production from the TCA cycle was dominantly suppressed compared with that from glycolysis in FHdim cells. Consistently, FHdim cells exhibited higher glucose dependence for ATP production and higher resistance to an ATP synthase inhibitor. In summary, using FHdim cells we demonstrated that FH defect led to suppressed pyruvate import into mitochondria, followed by downregulated TCA cycle activity and altered ATP production pathway balance from the TCA cycle to glycolysis. We confirmed that 13C-MFA can provide direct and quantitative information on metabolic alterations induced by FH defect.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70000-6
  14. Cell Metab. 2020 Jul 22. pii: S1550-4131(20)30359-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage Underlies Regulatory T Cell Defects in Autoimmunity.
    Themis Alissafi, Lydia Kalafati, Maria Lazari, Anastasia Filia, Ismini Kloukina, Maria Manifava, Jong-Hyung Lim, Vasileia Ismini Alexaki, Nicholas T Ktistakis, Triantafyllos Doskas, George A Garinis, Triantafyllos Chavakis, Dimitrios T Boumpas, Panayotis Verginis.
      Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are vital for the maintenance of immune homeostasis, while their dysfunction constitutes a cardinal feature of autoimmunity. Under steady-state conditions, mitochondrial metabolism is critical for Treg function; however, the metabolic adaptations of Tregs during autoimmunity are ill-defined. Herein, we report that elevated mitochondrial oxidative stress and a robust DNA damage response (DDR) associated with cell death occur in Tregs in individuals with autoimmunity. In an experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) mouse model of autoimmunity, we found a Treg dysfunction recapitulating the features of autoimmune Tregs with a prominent mtROS signature. Scavenging of mtROS in Tregs of EAE mice reversed the DDR and prevented Treg death, while attenuating the Th1 and Th17 autoimmune responses. These findings highlight an unrecognized role of mitochondrial oxidative stress in defining Treg fate during autoimmunity, which may facilitate the design of novel immunotherapies for diseases with disturbed immune tolerance.
    Keywords:  DNA damage response; autoimmunity; lysosome; metabolism; mitochondrial oxidative stress; regulatory T cell
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.07.001
  15. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2020 Aug 03.
    Mitochondrial complex I structure reveals ordered water molecules for catalysis and proton translocation.
    Daniel N Grba, Judy Hirst.
      Mitochondrial complex I powers ATP synthesis by oxidative phosphorylation, exploiting the energy from ubiquinone reduction by NADH to drive protons across the energy-transducing inner membrane. Recent cryo-EM analyses of mammalian and yeast complex I have revolutionized structural and mechanistic knowledge and defined structures in different functional states. Here, we describe a 2.7-Å-resolution structure of the 42-subunit complex I from the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica containing 275 structured water molecules. We identify a proton-relay pathway for ubiquinone reduction and water molecules that connect mechanistically crucial elements and constitute proton-translocation pathways through the membrane. By comparison with known structures, we deconvolute structural changes governing the mammalian 'deactive transition' (relevant to ischemia-reperfusion injury) and their effects on the ubiquinone-binding site and a connected cavity in ND1. Our structure thus provides important insights into catalysis by this enigmatic respiratory machine.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-020-0473-x
  16. Cell Metab. 2020 Aug 04. pii: S1550-4131(20)30368-5. [Epub ahead of print]32(2): 150-152
    A Vectorial, ER-Mitochondria Link to Energy Homeostasis in the Vascular Endothelium.
    Nabil E Boutagy, Joseph W Fowler, William C Sessa.
      The precise mechanisms of free fatty acid (FFA) uptake in the vascular endothelium are unclear. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Ibrahim et al. (2020) discover that FFA uptake is partially mediated by a vectorial, ER-mitochondria link, in which mitochondrial ATP production is locally used for the acyl-CoA synthetase activity of the ER-located fatty acid transport protein 4.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.07.010
  17. Aging Cell. 2020 Aug 03. e13206
    Mitochondrial DNA mutation exacerbates female reproductive aging via impairment of the NADH/NAD+ redox.
    Liang Yang, Xiaobing Lin, Haite Tang, Yuting Fan, Sheng Zeng, Lei Jia, Yukun Li, Yanan Shi, Shujing He, Hao Wang, Zhijuan Hu, Xiao Gong, Xiaoyan Liang, Yi Yang, Xingguo Liu.
      Mammals' aging is correlated with the accumulation of somatic heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. Whether and how aging accumulated mtDNA mutations modulate fertility remains unknown. Here, we analyzed oocyte quality of young (≤30 years old) and elder (≥38 years old) female patients and show the elder group had lower blastocyst formation rate and more mtDNA point mutations in oocytes. To test the causal role of mtDNA point mutations on infertility, we used polymerase gamma (POLG) mutator mice. We show that mtDNA mutation levels inversely correlate with fertility, interestingly mainly affecting not male but female fertility. mtDNA mutations decrease female mice's fertility by reducing ovarian primordial and mature follicles. Mechanistically, accumulation of mtDNA mutations decreases fertility by impairing oocyte's NADH/NAD+ redox state, which could be rescued by nicotinamide mononucleotide treatment. For the first time, we answer the fundamental question of the causal effect of age-accumulated mtDNA mutations on fertility and its sex dependence, and show its distinct metabolic controlling mechanism.
    Keywords:  aging; fertility; mitochondria; mitochondrial DNA; nicotinamide mononucleotide
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13206
  18. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 ;8 595
    Mitochondria-Associated ER Membranes - The Origin Site of Autophagy.
    Ming Yang, Chenrui Li, Shikun Yang, Ying Xiao, Xiaofen Xiong, Wei Chen, Hao Zhao, Qin Zhang, Yachun Han, Lin Sun.
      Autophagy is a process of intracellular self-recycling and degradation that plays an important role in maintaining cell homeostasis. However, the molecular mechanism of autophagy remains to be further studied. Mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes (MAMs) are the region of the ER that mediate communication between the ER and mitochondria. MAMs have been demonstrated to be involved in autophagy, Ca2+ transport and lipid metabolism. Here, we discuss the composition and function of MAMs, more specifically, to emphasize the role of MAMs in regulating autophagy. Finally, some key information that may be useful for future research is summarized.
    Keywords:  autophagy; endoplasmic reticulum; mitochondria; mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes (MAMs); mitophagy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.00595
  19. Cell Rep. 2020 Aug 04. pii: S2211-1247(20)30974-8. [Epub ahead of print]32(5): 107989
    Altered MICOS Morphology and Mitochondrial Ion Homeostasis Contribute to Poly(GR) Toxicity Associated with C9-ALS/FTD.
    Shuangxi Li, Zhihao Wu, Yu Li, Ishaq Tantray, Diego De Stefani, Andrea Mattarei, Gopinath Krishnan, Fen-Biao Gao, Hannes Vogel, Bingwei Lu.
      Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) manifests pathological changes in motor neurons and various other cell types. Compared to motor neurons, the contribution of the other cell types to the ALS phenotypes is understudied. G4C2 repeat expansion in C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of ALS along with frontotemporal dementia (C9-ALS/FTD), with increasing evidence supporting repeat-encoded poly(GR) in disease pathogenesis. Here, we show in Drosophila muscle that poly(GR) enters mitochondria and interacts with components of the Mitochondrial Contact Site and Cristae Organizing System (MICOS), altering MICOS dynamics and intra-subunit interactions. This impairs mitochondrial inner membrane structure, ion homeostasis, mitochondrial metabolism, and muscle integrity. Similar mitochondrial defects are observed in patient fibroblasts. Genetic manipulation of MICOS components or pharmacological restoration of ion homeostasis with nigericin effectively rescue the mitochondrial pathology and disease phenotypes in both systems. These results implicate MICOS-regulated ion homeostasis in C9-ALS pathogenesis and suggest potential new therapeutic strategies.
    Keywords:  C9-ALS/FTD; DPR; K(+)/H(+) antiporter; MICOS; Mic27/Apool; Opa1; cristae junction; mitochondrial K(+) homeostasis; muscle; nigericin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107989
  20. Nat Med. 2020 Aug 03.
    Implications of TP53 allelic state for genome stability, clinical presentation and outcomes in myelodysplastic syndromes.
    Elsa Bernard, Yasuhito Nannya, Robert P Hasserjian, Sean M Devlin, Heinz Tuechler, Juan S Medina-Martinez, Tetsuichi Yoshizato, Yusuke Shiozawa, Ryunosuke Saiki, Luca Malcovati, Max F Levine, Juan E Arango, Yangyu Zhou, Francesc Solé, Catherine A Cargo, Detlef Haase, Maria Creignou, Ulrich Germing, Yanming Zhang, Gunes Gundem, Araxe Sarian, Arjan A van de Loosdrecht, Martin Jädersten, Magnus Tobiasson, Olivier Kosmider, Matilde Y Follo, Felicitas Thol, Ronald F Pinheiro, Valeria Santini, Ioannis Kotsianidis, Jacqueline Boultwood, Fabio P S Santos, Julie Schanz, Senji Kasahara, Takayuki Ishikawa, Hisashi Tsurumi, Akifumi Takaori-Kondo, Toru Kiguchi, Chantana Polprasert, John M Bennett, Virginia M Klimek, Michael R Savona, Monika Belickova, Christina Ganster, Laura Palomo, Guillermo Sanz, Lionel Ades, Matteo Giovanni Della Porta, Alexandra G Smith, Yesenia Werner, Minal Patel, Agnès Viale, Katelynd Vanness, Donna S Neuberg, Kristen E Stevenson, Kamal Menghrajani, Kelly L Bolton, Pierre Fenaux, Andrea Pellagatti, Uwe Platzbecker, Michael Heuser, Peter Valent, Shigeru Chiba, Yasushi Miyazaki, Carlo Finelli, Maria Teresa Voso, Lee-Yung Shih, Michaela Fontenay, Joop H Jansen, José Cervera, Yoshiko Atsuta, Norbert Gattermann, Benjamin L Ebert, Rafael Bejar, Peter L Greenberg, Mario Cazzola, Eva Hellström-Lindberg, Seishi Ogawa, Elli Papaemmanuil.
      Tumor protein p53 (TP53) is the most frequently mutated gene in cancer1,2. In patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), TP53 mutations are associated with high-risk disease3,4, rapid transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML)5, resistance to conventional therapies6-8 and dismal outcomes9. Consistent with the tumor-suppressive role of TP53, patients harbor both mono- and biallelic mutations10. However, the biological and clinical implications of TP53 allelic state have not been fully investigated in MDS or any other cancer type. We analyzed 3,324 patients with MDS for TP53 mutations and allelic imbalances and delineated two subsets of patients with distinct phenotypes and outcomes. One-third of TP53-mutated patients had monoallelic mutations whereas two-thirds had multiple hits (multi-hit) consistent with biallelic targeting. Established associations with complex karyotype, few co-occurring mutations, high-risk presentation and poor outcomes were specific to multi-hit patients only. TP53 multi-hit state predicted risk of death and leukemic transformation independently of the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R)11. Surprisingly, monoallelic patients did not differ from TP53 wild-type patients in outcomes and response to therapy. This study shows that consideration of TP53 allelic state is critical for diagnostic and prognostic precision in MDS as well as in future correlative studies of treatment response.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1008-z
  21. Front Genet. 2020 ;11 761
    Methylation of Ribosomal RNA: A Mitochondrial Perspective.
    M Isabel G Lopez Sanchez, Miriam Cipullo, Shreekara Gopalakrishna, Anas Khawaja, Joanna Rorbach.
      Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) from all organisms undergoes post-transcriptional modifications that increase the diversity of its composition and activity. In mitochondria, specialized mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes) are responsible for the synthesis of 13 oxidative phosphorylation proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome. Mitoribosomal RNA is also modified, with 10 modifications thus far identified and all corresponding modifying enzymes described. This form of epigenetic regulation of mitochondrial gene expression affects mitoribosome biogenesis and function. Here, we provide an overview on rRNA methylation and highlight critical work that is beginning to elucidate its role in mitochondrial gene expression. Given the similarities between bacterial and mitochondrial ribosomes, we focus on studies involving Escherichia coli and human models. Furthermore, we highlight the use of state-of-the-art technologies, such as cryoEM in the study of rRNA methylation and its biological relevance. Understanding the mechanisms and functional relevance of this process represents an exciting frontier in the RNA biology and mitochondrial fields.
    Keywords:  RNA; epigenetics; methylation; methyltransferases; mitochondria; ribosome
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.00761
  22. Sci Adv. 2020 Jul;6(30): eaba3688
    Cellular sensing of extracellular purine nucleosides triggers an innate IFN-β response.
    Rekha Dhanwani, Mariko Takahashi, Ian T Mathews, Camille Lenzi, Artem Romanov, Jeramie D Watrous, Bartijn Pieters, Catherine C Hedrick, Chris A Benedict, Joel Linden, Roland Nilsson, Mohit Jain, Sonia Sharma.
      Mechanisms linking immune sensing of DNA danger signals in the extracellular environment to innate pathways in the cytosol are poorly understood. Here, we identify a previously unidentified immune-metabolic axis by which cells respond to purine nucleosides and trigger a type I interferon-β (IFN-β) response. We find that depletion of ADA2, an ectoenzyme that catabolizes extracellular dAdo to dIno, or supplementation of dAdo or dIno stimulates IFN-β. Under conditions of reduced ADA2 enzyme activity, dAdo is transported into cells and undergoes catabolysis by the cytosolic isoenzyme ADA1, driving intracellular accumulation of dIno. dIno is a functional immunometabolite that interferes with the cellular methionine cycle by inhibiting SAM synthetase activity. Inhibition of SAM-dependent transmethylation drives epigenomic hypomethylation and overexpression of immune-stimulatory endogenous retroviral elements that engage cytosolic dsRNA sensors and induce IFN-β. We uncovered a previously unknown cellular signaling pathway that responds to extracellular DNA-derived metabolites, coupling nucleoside catabolism by adenosine deaminases to cellular IFN-β production.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba3688
  23. Cell Metab. 2020 Jul 31. pii: S1550-4131(20)30362-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    Memory CD8+ T Cells Balance Pro- and Anti-inflammatory Activity by Reprogramming Cellular Acetate Handling at Sites of Infection.
    Maria L Balmer, Eric H Ma, Andrew Thompson, Raja Epple, Gunhild Unterstab, Jonas Lötscher, Philippe Dehio, Christian M Schürch, Jan D Warncke, Gaëlle Perrin, Anne-Kathrin Woischnig, Jasmin Grählert, Jordan Löliger, Nadine Assmann, Glenn R Bantug, Olivier P Schären, Nina Khanna, Adrian Egli, Lukas Bubendorf, Katharina Rentsch, Siegfried Hapfelmeier, Russell G Jones, Christoph Hess.
      Serum acetate increases upon systemic infection. Acutely, assimilation of acetate expands the capacity of memory CD8+ T cells to produce IFN-γ. Whether acetate modulates memory CD8+ T cell metabolism and function during pathogen re-encounter remains unexplored. Here we show that at sites of infection, high acetate concentrations are being reached, yet memory CD8+ T cells shut down the acetate assimilating enzymes ACSS1 and ACSS2. Acetate, being thus largely excluded from incorporation into cellular metabolic pathways, now had different effects, namely (1) directly activating glutaminase, thereby augmenting glutaminolysis, cellular respiration, and survival, and (2) suppressing TCR-triggered calcium flux, and consequently cell activation and effector cell function. In vivo, high acetate abundance at sites of infection improved pathogen clearance while reducing immunopathology. This indicates that, during different stages of the immune response, the same metabolite-acetate-induces distinct immunometabolic programs within the same cell type.
    Keywords:  acetate; glutaminolysis; immunometabolism; immunopathology; infection; memory CD8+ T cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.07.004
  24. BMC Biol. 2020 Aug 06. 18(1): 96
    The C-terminal region of the oxidoreductase MIA40 stabilizes its cytosolic precursor during mitochondrial import.
    Lena Maria Murschall, Anne Gerhards, Thomas MacVicar, Esra Peker, Lidwina Hasberg, Stephan Wawra, Thomas Langer, Jan Riemer.
       BACKGROUND: The mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) is home to proteins fulfilling numerous essential cellular processes, particularly in metabolism and mitochondrial function. All IMS proteins are nuclear encoded and synthesized in the cytosol and must therefore be correctly targeted and transported to the IMS, either through mitochondrial targeting sequences or conserved cysteines and the mitochondrial disulfide relay system. The mitochondrial oxidoreductase MIA40, which catalyzes disulfide formation in the IMS, is imported by the combined action of the protein AIFM1 and MIA40 itself. Here, we characterized the function of the conserved highly negatively charged C-terminal region of human MIA40.
    RESULTS: We demonstrate that the C-terminal region is critical during posttranslational mitochondrial import of MIA40, but is dispensable for MIA40 redox function in vitro and in intact cells. The C-terminal negatively charged region of MIA40 slowed import into mitochondria, which occurred with a half-time as slow as 90 min. During this time, the MIA40 precursor persisted in the cytosol in an unfolded state, and the C-terminal negatively charged region served in protecting MIA40 from proteasomal degradation. This stabilizing property of the MIA40 C-terminal region could also be conferred to a different mitochondrial precursor protein, COX19.
    CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the MIA40 precursor contains the stabilizing information to allow for postranslational import of sufficient amounts of MIA40 for full functionality of the essential disulfide relay. We thereby provide for the first time mechanistic insights into the determinants controlling cytosolic surveillance of IMS precursor proteins.
    Keywords:  Disulfide relay; MIA40; Mitochondrial import; Mitochondrial precursor; Negatively charged C-terminus; Proteasomal degradation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-020-00824-1
  25. Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 04. 11(1): 3881
    Multiplexed Optical Sensors in Arrayed Islands of Cells for multimodal recordings of cellular physiology.
    Christopher A Werley, Stefano Boccardo, Alessandra Rigamonti, Emil M Hansson, Adam E Cohen.
      Cells typically respond to chemical or physical perturbations via complex signaling cascades which can simultaneously affect multiple physiological parameters, such as membrane voltage, calcium, pH, and redox potential. Protein-based fluorescent sensors can report many of these parameters, but spectral overlap prevents more than ~4 modalities from being recorded in parallel. Here we introduce the technique, MOSAIC, Multiplexed Optical Sensors in Arrayed Islands of Cells, where patterning of fluorescent sensor-encoding lentiviral vectors with a microarray printer enables parallel recording of multiple modalities. We demonstrate simultaneous recordings from 20 sensors in parallel in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells and in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs), and we describe responses to metabolic and pharmacological perturbations. Together, these results show that MOSAIC can provide rich multi-modal data on complex physiological responses in multiple cell types.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17607-5
  26. Nat Metab. 2020 Aug 03.
    Metabolic conditioning of CD8+ effector T cells for adoptive cell therapy.
    Ramon I Klein Geltink, Joy Edwards-Hicks, Petya Apostolova, David O'Sullivan, David E Sanin, Annette E Patterson, Daniel J Puleston, Nina A M Ligthart, Joerg M Buescher, Katarzyna M Grzes, Agnieszka M Kabat, Michal Stanczak, Jonathan D Curtis, Fabian Hässler, Franziska M Uhl, Mario Fabri, Robert Zeiser, Edward J Pearce, Erika L Pearce.
      CD8+ effector T (TE) cell proliferation and cytokine production depends on enhanced glucose metabolism. However, circulating T cells continuously adapt to glucose fluctuations caused by diet and inter-organ metabolite exchange. Here we show that transient glucose restriction (TGR) in activated CD8+ TE cells metabolically primes effector functions and enhances tumour clearance in mice. Tumour-specific TGR CD8+ TE cells co-cultured with tumour spheroids in replete conditions display enhanced effector molecule expression, and adoptive transfer of these cells in a murine lymphoma model leads to greater numbers of immunologically functional circulating donor cells and complete tumour clearance. Mechanistically, TE cells treated with TGR undergo metabolic remodelling that, after glucose re-exposure, supports enhanced glucose uptake, increased carbon allocation to the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and a cellular redox shift towards a more reduced state-all indicators of a more anabolic programme to support their enhanced functionality. Thus, metabolic conditioning could be used to promote efficiency of T-cell products for adoptive cellular therapy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0256-z
  27. Methods Protoc. 2020 Jul 30. pii: E54. [Epub ahead of print]3(3):
    IsoSearch: An Untargeted and Unbiased Metabolite and Lipid Isotopomer Tracing Strategy from HR-LC-MS/MS Datasets.
    He Huang, Min Yuan, Phillip Seitzer, Susan Ludwigsen, John M Asara.
      Stable isotopic tracer analysis is a technique used to determine carbon or nitrogen atom incorporation into biological systems. A number of mass spectrometry based approaches have been developed for this purpose, including high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-LC-MS/MS), selected reaction monitoring (SRM) and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM). We have developed an approach for analyzing untargeted metabolomic and lipidomic datasets using high-resolution mass spectrometry with polarity switching and implemented our approach in the open-source R script IsoSearch and in Scaffold Elements software. Using our strategy, which requires an unlabeled reference dataset and isotope labeled datasets across various biological conditions, we traced metabolic isotopomer alterations in breast cancer cells (MCF-7) treated with the metabolic drugs 2-deoxy-glucose, 6-aminonicotinamide, compound 968, and rapamycin. Metabolites and lipids were first identified by the commercial software Scaffold Elements and LipidSearch, then IsoSearch successfully profiled the 13C-isotopomers extracted metabolites and lipids from 13C-glucose labeled MCF-7 cells. The results interpreted known models, such as glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway inhibition, but also helped to discover new metabolic/lipid flux patterns, including a reactive oxygen species (ROS) defense mechanism induced by 6AN and triglyceride accumulation in rapamycin treated cells. The results suggest the IsoSearch/Scaffold Elements platform is effective for studying metabolic tracer analysis in diseases, drug metabolism, and metabolic engineering for both polar metabolites and non-polar lipids.
    Keywords:  13C; 15N; LC-MS/MS; cancer; cell culture; flux; glucose; glutamine; high resolution; isotopic tracer analysis; lipidomics; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; metabolism; metabolomics; polarity switching; stable isotope labeling
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/mps3030054
  28. J Biol Chem. 2020 Aug 03. pii: jbc.RA120.013899. [Epub ahead of print]
    Flux through mitochondrial redox circuits linked to nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase generates counterbalance changes in energy expenditure.
    Cody D Smith, Cameron A Schmidt, Chien-Te Lin, Kelsey H Fisher-Wellman, P Darrell Neufer.
      Compensatory changes in energy expenditure occur in response to positive and negative energy balance, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Under low energy demand, the mitochondrial electron transport system (ETS) is particularly sensitive to added energy supply (i.e., reductive stress) which exponentially increases the rate of H2O2 (JH2O2) production. H2O2 is reduced to H2O by electrons supplied by NADPH. NADP+ is reduced back to NADPH by  activation of mitochondrial membrane potential-dependent nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT). The coupling of reductive stress-induced JH2O2 production to NNT-linked redox buffering circuits provides a potential means of integrating energy balance with energy expenditure. To test this hypothesis, energy supply was manipulated by varying flux rate through β-oxidation in muscle mitochondria minus/plus pharmacological or genetic inhibition of redox buffering circuits. Here we show during both non-ADP and low-ADP stimulated respiration that accelerating flux through β-oxidation generates a corresponding increase in mitochondrial JH2O2 production, that the majority (∼70-80%) of H2O2 produced is reduced to H2O by electrons drawn from redox buffering circuits supplied by NADPH, and that the rate of electron flux through redox buffering circuits is directly linked to changes in oxygen consumption mediated by NNT. These findings provide evidence that redox reactions within β-oxidation and the ETS serve as a barometer of substrate flux relative to demand, continuously adjusting JH2O2 production and, in turn, the rate at which energy is expended via NNT-mediated proton conductance. This variable flux through redox circuits provides a potential compensatory mechanism for fine-tuning energy expenditure to energy balance in real-time.
    Keywords:  beta-oxidation; bioenergetics; electron transport system (ETS); energy metabolism; hydrogen sulfide; mitochondrial metabolism; nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase; redox regulation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA120.013899
  29. J Clin Invest. 2020 Aug 06. pii: 130996. [Epub ahead of print]
    Inhibition of mitophagy drives macrophage activation and anti-bacterial defense during sepsis.
    Danish Patoli, Franck Mignotte, Valérie Deckert, Alois Dusuel, Adelie Dumont, Aurelie Rieu, Antoine Jalil, Kevin Van Dongen, Thibaut Bourgeois, Thomas Gautier, Charlene Magnani, Naig Le Guern, Stéphane Mandard, Jean Bastin, Fatima Djouadi, Christine Schaeffer, Nina Guillaumot, Michel Narce, Maxime Nguyen, Julien Guy, Auguste Dargent, Jean-Pierre Quenot, Mickaël Rialland, David Masson, Johan Auwerx, Laurent Lagrost, Charles Thomas.
      Mitochondria have emerged as key actors of innate and adaptive immunity. Mitophagy has a pivotal role in cell homeostasis but its contribution to macrophage functions and host defense remains to be delineated. Here we showed that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in combination with IFNγ, inhibits PINK1-dependent mitophagy in macrophages through a STAT1-dependent activation of the inflammatory caspases 1 and 11. In addition, we demonstrated that the inhibition of mitophagy triggers classical macrophage activation in a mitochondrial ROS-dependent manner. In a murine model of polymicrobial infection (cecal ligature and puncture, CLP), adoptive transfer of Pink1-deficient bone marrow or pharmacological inhibition of mitophagy promoted macrophage activation which favored bactericidal clearance and lead to a better survival. Reciprocally, mitochondrial uncouplers, that promote mitophagy, reverse LPS/IFNγ-mediated activation of macrophages and lead to immuno-paralysis with impaired bacterial clearance and lowered survival. In critically ill patients, we showed that mitophagy is inhibited in blood monocytes of patients with sepsis as compared to non-septic patients. Overall, this work demonstrates that the inhibition of mitophagy is a physiological mechanism that contributes to the activation of myeloid cells and improves the outcome of sepsis.
    Keywords:  Inflammation; Innate immunity; Macrophages; Metabolism; Mitochondria
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI130996
  30. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 ;8 617
    Using Expansion Microscopy to Visualize and Characterize the Morphology of Mitochondrial Cristae.
    Tobias C Kunz, Ralph Götz, Shiqiang Gao, Markus Sauer, Vera Kozjak-Pavlovic.
      Mitochondria are double membrane bound organelles indispensable for biological processes such as apoptosis, cell signaling, and the production of many important metabolites, which includes ATP that is generated during the process known as oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). The inner membrane contains folds called cristae, which increase the membrane surface and thus the amount of membrane-bound proteins necessary for the OXPHOS. These folds have been of great interest not only because of their importance for energy conversion, but also because changes in morphology have been linked to a broad range of diseases from cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, to aging and infection. With a distance between opposing cristae membranes often below 100 nm, conventional fluorescence imaging cannot provide a resolution sufficient for resolving these structures. For this reason, various highly specialized super-resolution methods including dSTORM, PALM, STED, and SIM have been applied for cristae visualization. Expansion Microscopy (ExM) offers the possibility to perform super-resolution microscopy on conventional confocal microscopes by embedding the sample into a swellable hydrogel that is isotropically expanded by a factor of 4-4.5, improving the resolution to 60-70 nm on conventional confocal microscopes, which can be further increased to ∼ 30 nm laterally using SIM. Here, we demonstrate that the expression of the mitochondrial creatine kinase MtCK linked to marker protein GFP (MtCK-GFP), which localizes to the space between the outer and the inner mitochondrial membrane, can be used as a cristae marker. Applying ExM on mitochondria labeled with this construct enables visualization of morphological changes of cristae and localization studies of mitochondrial proteins relative to cristae without the need for specialized setups. For the first time we present the combination of specific mitochondrial intermembrane space labeling and ExM as a tool for studying internal structure of mitochondria.
    Keywords:  Expansion microscopy; cristae; mitochondria; structured illumination microscope; ultrastructure
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.00617
  31. Nat Metab. 2020 Aug 03.
    Skeletal muscle energy metabolism during exercise.
    Mark Hargreaves, Lawrence L Spriet.
      The continual supply of ATP to the fundamental cellular processes that underpin skeletal muscle contraction during exercise is essential for sports performance in events lasting seconds to several hours. Because the muscle stores of ATP are small, metabolic pathways must be activated to maintain the required rates of ATP resynthesis. These pathways include phosphocreatine and muscle glycogen breakdown, thus enabling substrate-level phosphorylation ('anaerobic') and oxidative phosphorylation by using reducing equivalents from carbohydrate and fat metabolism ('aerobic'). The relative contribution of these metabolic pathways is primarily determined by the intensity and duration of exercise. For most events at the Olympics, carbohydrate is the primary fuel for anaerobic and aerobic metabolism. Here, we provide an overview of exercise metabolism and the key regulatory mechanisms ensuring that ATP resynthesis is closely matched to the ATP demand of exercise. We also summarize various interventions that target muscle metabolism for ergogenic benefit in athletic events.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0251-4
  32. Nat Cell Biol. 2020 Aug;22(8): 973-985
    Mammalian Atg8 proteins and the autophagy factor IRGM control mTOR and TFEB at a regulatory node critical for responses to pathogens.
    Suresh Kumar, Ashish Jain, Seong Won Choi, Gustavo Peixoto Duarte da Silva, Lee Allers, Michal H Mudd, Ryan Scott Peters, Jan Haug Anonsen, Tor-Erik Rusten, Michael Lazarou, Vojo Deretic.
      Autophagy is a homeostatic process with multiple functions in mammalian cells. Here, we show that mammalian Atg8 proteins (mAtg8s) and the autophagy regulator IRGM control TFEB, a transcriptional activator of the lysosomal system. IRGM directly interacted with TFEB and promoted the nuclear translocation of TFEB. An mAtg8 partner of IRGM, GABARAP, interacted with TFEB. Deletion of all mAtg8s or GABARAPs affected the global transcriptional response to starvation and downregulated subsets of TFEB targets. IRGM and GABARAPs countered the action of mTOR as a negative regulator of TFEB. This was suppressed by constitutively active RagB, an activator of mTOR. Infection of macrophages with the membrane-permeabilizing microbe Mycobacterium tuberculosis or infection of target cells by HIV elicited TFEB activation in an IRGM-dependent manner. Thus, IRGM and its interactors mAtg8s close a loop between the autophagosomal pathway and the control of lysosomal biogenesis by TFEB, thus ensuring coordinated activation of the two systems that eventually merge during autophagy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-020-0549-1
  33. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Aug 05. pii: E5598. [Epub ahead of print]21(16):
    The Significance of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cancer.
    Yongde Luo, Jianjia Ma, Weiqin Lu.
      As an essential organelle in nucleated eukaryotic cells, mitochondria play a central role in energy metabolism, maintenance of redox balance, and regulation of apoptosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction, either due to the TCA cycle enzyme defects, mitochondrial DNA genetic mutations, defective mitochondrial electron transport chain, oxidative stress, or aberrant oncogene and tumor suppressor signaling, has been observed in a wide spectrum of human cancers. In this review, we summarize mitochondrial dysfunction induced by these alterations that promote human cancers.
    Keywords:  TCA cycle; cancers; dysfunction; electron transport chain; mitochondria; oncogene; oxidative phosphorylation; tumor suppressor
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21165598
  34. Nat Rev Genet. 2020 Aug 06.
    RNA: a double-edged sword in genome maintenance.
    Dali Zong, Philipp Oberdoerffer, Pedro J Batista, André Nussenzweig.
      All organisms must safeguard the integrity of their DNA to avoid deleterious consequences of genome instability, which have been linked to human diseases such as autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Traditionally, genome maintenance has been viewed largely in terms of DNA-protein interactions. However, emerging evidence points to RNA as a key modulator of genome stability, with seemingly opposing roles in promoting chromosomal instability and protecting genome integrity. Unravelling the mechanistic and contextual basis of this duality will not only improve our understanding of the interfaces between RNA and the genome but will also provide important insights into how disrupted RNA metabolism contributes to disease origin, laying the foundation for targeted intervention.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-020-0263-7
  35. Redox Biol. 2020 Jul 05. pii: S2213-2317(20)30835-1. [Epub ahead of print] 101630
    Hysteresis and bistability in the succinate-CoQ reductase activity and reactive oxygen species production in the mitochondrial respiratory complex II.
    Nikolay I Markevich, Miliausha H Galimova, Lubov N Markevich.
      The mitochondrial respiratory Complex II (CII) is one of key enzymes of cell energy metabolism, linking the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the electron transport chain (ETC). CII reversibly oxidizes succinate to fumarate in the TCA cycle and transfers the electrons, produced by this reaction to the membrane quinone pool, providing ubiquinol QH2 to ETC. CII is also known as a generator of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It was shown experimentally that succinate can serve as not only a substrate in the forward succinate-quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) direction, but also an enzyme activator. Molecular and kinetic mechanisms of this property of CII are still unclear. In order to account for activation of CII by succinate in the forward SQR direction, we developed and analyzed a computational mechanistic model of electron transfer and ROS formation in CII. It was found that re-binding of succinate to the unoccupied dicarboxylate binding site when FAD is reduced with subsequent oxidation of FADH2 creates a positive feedback loop in the succinate oxidation. The model predicts that this positive feedback can result in hysteresis and bistable switches in SQR activity and ROS production in CII. This requires that the rate constant of re-binding of succinate has to be higher than the rate constant of the initial succinate binding to the active center when FAD is oxidized. Hysteresis and bistability in the SQR activity and ROS production in CII can play an important physiological role. In the presence of hysteresis with two stable branches with high and low SQR activity, high SQR activity is maintained even with a very strong drop in the succinate concentration, which may be necessary in the process of cell functioning in stressful situations. For the same reason, a high stationary rate of ROS production in CII can be maintained at low succinate concentrations.
    Keywords:  Bistability; Complex II; Computational model; Hysteresis; Reactive oxygen species (ROS)
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101630
  36. Nat Immunol. 2020 Aug 03.
    ILC2-driven innate immune checkpoint mechanism antagonizes NK cell antimetastatic function in the lung.
    Martijn J Schuijs, Shaun Png, Arianne C Richard, Anastasia Tsyben, Gregory Hamm, Julie Stockis, Celine Garcia, Silvain Pinaud, Ashley Nicholls, Xavier Romero Ros, Jing Su, Matthew D Eldridge, Angela Riedel, Eva M Serrao, Hans-Reimer Rodewald, Matthias Mack, Jacqueline D Shields, E Suzanne Cohen, Andrew N J McKenzie, Richard J A Goodwin, Kevin M Brindle, John C Marioni, Timotheus Y F Halim.
      Metastasis constitutes the primary cause of cancer-related deaths, with the lung being a commonly affected organ. We found that activation of lung-resident group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) orchestrated suppression of natural killer (NK) cell-mediated innate antitumor immunity, leading to increased lung metastases and mortality. Using multiple models of lung metastasis, we show that interleukin (IL)-33-dependent ILC2 activation in the lung is involved centrally in promoting tumor burden. ILC2-driven innate type 2 inflammation is accompanied by profound local suppression of interferon-γ production and cytotoxic function of lung NK cells. ILC2-dependent suppression of NK cells is elaborated via an innate regulatory mechanism, which is reliant on IL-5-induced lung eosinophilia, ultimately limiting the metabolic fitness of NK cells. Therapeutic targeting of IL-33 or IL-5 reversed NK cell suppression and alleviated cancer burden. Thus, we reveal an important function of IL-33 and ILC2s in promoting tumor metastasis via their capacity to suppress innate type 1 immunity.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-020-0745-y
  37. Neurobiol Dis. 2020 Jul 31. pii: S0969-9961(20)30300-4. [Epub ahead of print] 105025
    Accelerated transsulfuration metabolically defines a discrete subclass of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.
    Qiuying Chen, Csaba Konrad, Davinder Sandhu, Dipa Roychoudhury, Benjamin I Schwartz, Roger R Cheng, Kirsten Bredvik, Hibiki Kawamata, Elizabeth L Calder, Lorenz Studer, Steven M Fischer, Giovanni Manfredi, Steven S Gross.
      Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease characterized by progressive paralysis and death. Most ALS-cases are sporadic (sALS) and patient heterogeneity poses challenges for effective therapies. Applying metabolite profiling on 77-sALS patient-derived-fibroblasts and 43-controls, we found ~25% of sALS cases (termed sALS-1) are characterized by transsulfuration pathway upregulation, where methionine-derived-homocysteine is channeled into cysteine for glutathione synthesis. sALS-1 fibroblasts selectively exhibited a growth defect under oxidative conditions, fully-rescued by N-acetylcysteine (NAC). [U13C]-glucose tracing showed transsulfuration pathway activation with accelerated glucose flux into the Krebs cycle. We established a four-metabolite support vector machine model predicting sALS-1 metabotype with 97.5% accuracy. Both sALS-1 metabotype and growth phenotype were validated in an independent cohort of sALS cases. Importantly, plasma metabolite profiling identified a system-wide cysteine metabolism perturbation as a hallmark of sALS-1. Findings reveal that sALS patients can be stratified into distinct metabotypes with differential sensitivity to metabolic stress, providing novel insights for personalized therapy.
    Keywords:  Cysteine; Disease stratification; Metabolomics; Methionine; Sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Stable isotope tracing; Transsulfuration
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2020.105025
  38. Redox Biol. 2020 Jul 23. pii: S2213-2317(20)30855-7. [Epub ahead of print]36 101650
    Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) regulates mitochondrial ROS and endothelial dysfunction in response to angiotensin II.
    K N Shashanka Rao, Xinggui Shen, Sibile Pardue, David M Krzywanski.
      Endothelial dysfunction is a critical, initiating step in the development of hypertension (HTN) and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important contributors to endothelial dysfunction. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (Nnt) gene that are associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased risk for HTN. NNT is emerging as an important enzyme that regulates mitochondrial NADPH levels and mitochondrial redox balance by supporting the thiol dependent peroxidase systems in the mitochondria. We have previously shown that the absence of NNT in C57Bl/6J animals promotes a more severe hypertensive phenotype through reductions in •NO and endothelial dependent vessel dilation. However, the impact of NNT on human endothelial cell function remains unclear. We utilized NNT directed shRNA in human aortic endothelial cells to test the hypothesis that NNT critically regulates mitochondrial redox balance and endothelial function in response to angiotensin II (Ang II). We demonstrate that NNT expression and activity are elevated in response to the mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress associated with Ang II treatment. Knockdown of NNT led to a significant elevation of mitochondrial ROS production and impaired glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase activities associated with a reduction in the NADPH/NADP+ ratio. Loss of NNT also promoted mitochondrial dysfunction, disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential, and impaired ATP production in response to Ang II. Finally, we observed that, while the loss of NNT augmented eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1177, neither eNOS activity nor nitric oxide production were similarly increased. The results from these studies clearly demonstrate that NNT is critical for the maintenance of mitochondrial redox balance and mitochondrial function. Loss of NNT and disruption of redox balance leads to oxidative stress that compromises eNOS activity that could have a profound effect on the endothelium dependent regulation of vascular tone.
    Keywords:  Angiotensin II; Mitochondria; NNT; Reactive oxygen species
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101650
  39. Kidney Int. 2020 Apr 27. pii: S0085-2538(20)30428-2. [Epub ahead of print]
    Tuberous sclerosis 1 (Tsc1) mediated mTORC1 activation promotes glycolysis in tubular epithelial cells in kidney fibrosis.
    Hongdi Cao, Jing Luo, Yu Zhang, Xiaoming Mao, Ping Wen, Hao Ding, Jing Xu, Qi Sun, Weichun He, Chunsun Dai, Ke Zen, Yang Zhou, Junwei Yang, Lei Jiang.
      Energy reprogramming to glycolysis is closely associated with the development of chronic kidney disease. As an important negative regulatory factor of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signal, tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (Tsc1) is also a key regulatory point of glycolysis. Here, we investigated whether Tsc1 could mediate the progression of kidney interstitial fibrosis by regulating glycolysis in proximal tubular epithelial cells. We induced mTORC1 signal activation in tubular epithelial cells in kidneys with fibrosis via unilateral ureteral occlusion. This resulted in increased tubular epithelial cell proliferation and glycolytic enzyme upregulation. Prior incubation with rapamycin inhibited mTORC1 activation and abolished the enhanced glycolysis and tubular epithelial cell proliferation. Furthermore, knockdown of Tsc1 expression promoted glycolysis in the rat kidney epithelial cell line NRK-52E. Specific deletion of Tsc1 in the proximal tubules of mice resulted in enlarged kidneys characterized by a high proportion of proliferative tubular epithelial cells, dilated tubules with cyst formation, and a large area of interstitial fibrosis in conjunction with elevated glycolysis. Treatment of the mice with the glycolysis inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose notably ameliorated tubular epithelial cell proliferation, cystogenesis, and kidney fibrosis. Thus, our findings suggest that Tsc1-associated mTORC1 signaling mediates the progression of kidney interstitial fibrosis by regulating glycolysis in proximal tubular epithelial cells.
    Keywords:  glycolysis; mTOR signaling; renal fibrosis; tubular epithelial cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2020.03.035
  40. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Aug 03. pii: E2147. [Epub ahead of print]12(8):
    Stable Isotope Tracing Metabolomics to Investigate the Metabolic Activity of Bioactive Compounds for Cancer Prevention and Treatment.
    Feroza K Choudhury, G Lavender Hackman, Alessia Lodi, Stefano Tiziani.
      A major hallmark of cancer is the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells to fuel tumor growth and proliferation. Various plant-derived bioactive compounds efficiently target the metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells and exhibit potential as emerging therapeutic agents. Due to their safety and common use as dietary components, they are also ideal for cancer prevention. However, to render their use as efficient as possible, the mechanism of action of these phytochemicals needs to be well characterized. Stable isotope tracing is an essential technology to study the molecular mechanisms by which nutraceuticals modulate and target cancer metabolism. The use of positionally labeled tracers as exogenous nutrients and the monitoring of their downstream metabolites labeling patterns enable the analysis of the specific metabolic pathway activity, via the relative production and consumption of the labeled metabolites. Although stable isotope tracing metabolomics is a powerful tool to investigate the molecular activity of bioactive compounds as well as to design synergistic nutraceutical combinations, this methodology is still underutilized. This review aims to investigate the research efforts and potentials surrounding the use of stable isotope tracing metabolomics to examine the metabolic alterations mediated by bioactive compounds in cancer.
    Keywords:  bioactive compounds; cancer metabolism; cancer prevention; metabolic pathways; natural products; stable isotope tracing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12082147
  41. Nat Metab. 2020 Aug 03.
    Metabolic communication during exercise.
    Robyn M Murphy, Matthew J Watt, Mark A Febbraio.
      The coordination of nutrient sensing, delivery, uptake and utilization is essential for maintaining cellular, tissue and whole-body homeostasis. Such synchronization can be achieved only if metabolic information is communicated between the cells and tissues of the entire organism. During intense exercise, the metabolic demand of the body can increase approximately 100-fold. Thus, exercise is a physiological state in which intertissue communication is of paramount importance. In this Review, we discuss the physiological processes governing intertissue communication during exercise and the molecules mediating such cross-talk.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0258-x
  42. Cell Stress. 2020 Jun 25. 4(8): 191-198
    Exploiting the circuit breaker cancer evolution model in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
    James J Hsieh, Emily H Cheng.
      The incessant interactions between susceptible humans and their respective macro/microenvironments registered throughout their lifetime result in the ultimate manifestation of individual cancers. With the average lifespan exceeding 50 years of age in humans since the beginning of 20th century, aging - the "time" factor - has played an ever-increasing role alongside host and environmental factors in cancer incidences. Cancer is a genetic/epigenetic disease due to gain-of-function mutations in cancer-causing genes (oncogene; OG) and/or loss-of-function mutations in tumor-suppressing genes (tumor suppressor genes; TSG). In addition to their integral relationship with cancer, a timely deployment of specific OG and/or TSG is in fact needed for higher organisms like human to cope with respective physiological and pathological conditions. Over the past decade, extensive human kidney cancer genomics have been performed and novel mouse models recapitulating human kidney cancer pathobiology have been generated. With new genomic, genetic, mechanistic, clinical and therapeutic insights accumulated from studying clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)-the most common type of kidney cancer, we conceived a cancer evolution model built upon the OG-TSG signaling pair analogous to the electrical circuit breaker (CB) that permits necessary signaling output and at the same time prevent detrimental signaling overdrive. Hence, this viewpoint aims at providing a step-by-step mechanistic explanation/illustration concerning how inherent OG-TSG CBs intricately operate in concert for the organism's wellbeing; and how somatic mutations, the essential component for genetic adaptability, inadvertently triggers a sequential outage of specific sets of CBs that normally function to maintain and protect and individual tissue homeostasis.
    Keywords:  HIF; MTOR; PBRM1; VHL; circuit breaker; kidney cancer evolution
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15698/cst2020.08.227
  43. Cancer Sci. 2020 Aug 07.
    DRP1 promotes lactate utilization in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer cells.
    Mangze Hu, Yu Zhao, Yuejiao Cao, Qianru Tang, Ziqin Feng, Jun Ni, Xiaorong Zhou.
      Metabolic alterations are well documented in various cancers. Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) preferentially use lactate as the primary carbon source, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We developed a lactate-dependent cell proliferation assay and found that dynamin-related protein (DRP1), which is highly expressed in KRAS-mutant NSCLC, is required for tumor cells to proliferate and uses lactate as fuel, demonstrating the critical role of DRP1 in the metabolic reprogramming of NSCLC. Metabolic and transcriptional profiling suggests that DRP1 orchestrates a supportive metabolic network to promote lactate utilization and redox homeostasis in lung cancer cells. DRP1 suppresses the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protects cells against oxidative damage by enhancing lactate utilization. Moreover, targeting DRP1 not only reduces HSP90 expression but also enhances ROS-induced HSP90 cleavage, thus inhibiting activation of the MAPK and PI3K pathways and leading to suppressed lactate utilization and increased ROS-induced cell death. Taken together, these results suggest that DRP1 is a crucial regulator of lactate metabolism and redox homeostasis in KRAS-mutant lung cancer, and targeting lactate utilization by modulating DRP1 activity might be an effective treatment for lung cancer.
    Keywords:  Cancer metabolism; DRP1; KRAS mutation; Lactate; Lung cancer
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.14603
  44. Nat Microbiol. 2020 Aug 03.
    Reprogramming of host glutamine metabolism during Chlamydia trachomatis infection and its key role in peptidoglycan synthesis.
    Karthika Rajeeve, Nadine Vollmuth, Sudha Janaki-Raman, Thomas F Wulff, Apoorva Baluapuri, Francesca R Dejure, Claudia Huber, Julian Fink, Maximilian Schmalhofer, Werner Schmitz, Rajeeve Sivadasan, Elmar Wolf, Wolfgang Eisenreich, Almut Schulze, Jürgen Seibel, Thomas Rudel.
      Obligate intracellular bacteria such as Chlamydia trachomatis undergo a complex developmental cycle between infectious, non-replicative elementary-body and non-infectious, replicative reticulate-body forms. Elementary bodies transform to reticulate bodies shortly after entering a host cell, a crucial process in infection, initiating chlamydial replication. As Chlamydia fail to replicate outside the host cell, it is unknown how the replicative part of the developmental cycle is initiated. Here we show, using a cell-free approach in axenic media, that the uptake of glutamine by the bacteria is crucial for peptidoglycan synthesis, which has a role in Chlamydia replication. The increased requirement for glutamine in infected cells is satisfied by reprogramming the glutamine metabolism in a c-Myc-dependent manner. Glutamine is effectively taken up by the glutamine transporter SLC1A5 and metabolized via glutaminase. Interference with this metabolic reprogramming limits the growth of Chlamydia. Intriguingly, Chlamydia failed to produce progeny in SLC1A5-knockout organoids and mice. Thus, we report on the central role of glutamine for the development of an obligate intracellular pathogenic bacterium and the reprogramming of host glutamine metabolism, which may provide a basis for innovative anti-infection strategies.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-020-0762-5
  45. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2020 Aug 02.
    Increased protein propionylation contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction in liver cells and fibroblasts, but not in myotubes.
    Bart Lagerwaard, Olga Pougovkina, Anna F Bekebrede, Heleen Te Brinke, Ronald J A Wanders, Arie G Nieuwenhuizen, Jaap Keijer, Vincent C J de Boer.
      Post-translational protein modifications derived from metabolic intermediates, such as acyl-CoAs, have been shown to regulate mitochondrial function. Patients with an inborn a genetic defect in the propionyl-CoA carboxylase (PCC) gene clinically present symptoms related to mitochondrial disorders and are characterised by decreased mitochondrial respiration. Since propionyl-CoA accumulates in PCC deficient patients and protein propionylation can be driven by the level of propionyl-CoA, we hypothesised that protein propionylation could play a role in the pathology of the disease. Indeed, we identified increased protein propionylation due to pathologic propionyl-CoA accumulation in patient-derived fibroblasts and this was accompanied by defective mitochondrial respiration, as was shown by a decrease in complex I-driven respiration. To mimic pathological protein propionylation levels, we exposed cultured fibroblasts, Fao liver cells and C2C12 muscle myotubes to propionate levels that are typically found in these patients. This induced a global increase in protein propionylation and histone protein propionylation and was also accompanied by a decrease in mitochondrial respiration in liver and fibroblasts. However, in C2C12 myotubes propionate exposure did not decrease mitochondrial respiration, possibly due to differences in propionyl-CoA metabolism as compared to the liver. Therefore, protein propionylation could contribute to the pathology in these patients, especially in the liver, and could therefore be an interesting target to pursue in the treatment of this metabolic disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  Mitochondria; Post-translational protein modifications; Propionic acidemia; Propionylation; oxidative metabolism
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jimd.12296
  46. PLoS Pathog. 2020 Aug 04. 16(8): e1008695
    Metabolic competition between host and pathogen dictates inflammasome responses to fungal infection.
    Timothy M Tucey, Jiyoti Verma, Françios A B Olivier, Tricia L Lo, Avril A B Robertson, Thomas Naderer, Ana Traven.
      The NLRP3 inflammasome has emerged as a central immune regulator for sensing virulence factors expressed by microbial pathogens for triggering antimicrobial inflammation. Inflammation can be harmful and therefore this response must be tightly controlled. The mechanisms by which immune cells, such as macrophages, discriminate benign from pathogenic microbes to control the NLRP3 inflammasome remain poorly defined. Here we used live cell imaging coupled with a compendium of diverse clinical isolates to define how macrophages respond and activate NLRP3 when faced with the human yeast commensal and pathogen Candida albicans. We show that metabolic competition by C. albicans, rather than virulence traits such as hyphal formation, activates NLRP3 in macrophages. Inflammasome activation is triggered by glucose starvation in macrophages, which occurs when fungal load increases sufficiently to outcompete macrophages for glucose. Consistently, reducing Candida's ability to compete for glucose or increasing glucose availability for macrophages tames inflammatory responses. We define the mechanistic requirements for glucose starvation-dependent inflammasome activation by Candida and show that it leads to inflammatory cytokine production, but it does not trigger pyroptotic macrophage death. Pyroptosis occurs only with some clinical Candida isolates and only under specific experimental conditions, whereas inflammasome activation by glucose starvation is broadly relevant. In conclusion, macrophages use their metabolic status, specifically glucose metabolism, to sense fungal metabolic activity and increased microbial loads for activating NLRP3. Therefore, a major consequence of Candida-induced glucose starvation in macrophages is activation of inflammatory responses, with implications for understanding how metabolism modulates inflammation in fungal infections.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008695
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