bims-mibica 2023-01-15 papers

bims-mibica

Biomed News

on Mitochondrial bioenergetics in cancer

Issue of 2023–01–15
35 papers selected by
Kelsey Fisher-Wellman, East Carolina University

OxPhos defects cause hypermetabolism and reduce lifespan in cells and in patients with mitochondrial diseases.
Cryo-EM structures of mitochondrial respiratory complex I from Drosophila melanogaster.
Monitoring Mitochondrial Protein Import Using Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence (MTS)-eGFP.
Translation initiation of leaderless and polycistronic transcripts in mammalian mitochondria.
Non-bioenergetic roles of mitochondrial GPD2 promote tumor progression.
The Effect of Oxidative Phosphorylation on Cancer Drug Resistance.
Genetic mutations affecting mitochondrial function in cancer drug resistance.
Mass Spectrometry Reveals High Levels of Hydrogen Peroxide in Pancreatic Cancer Cells.
The impact of glucose on mitochondria and lifespan is determined by the integrity of proline catabolism in C. elegans.
Regulation of Mitochondrial Hydrogen Peroxide Availability by Protein S-glutathionylation.
Protocol for direct measurement of stability and activity of mitochondria electron transport chain complex II.
Investigation of mitochondrial targeting ability of sydnones and sydnonimines and mitochondria-targeted delivery of celecoxib.
Wild-type IDH1 Knockout Leads to G0/G1 Arrest, Impairs Cancer Cell Proliferation, Altering Glycolysis, and the TCA Cycle in Colon Cancer.
Lactic fermentation: A maladaptive mechanism and an evolutionary throwback boosting cancer drug resistance.
ATP6V0D1 promotes alkaliptosis by blocking STAT3-mediated lysosomal pH homeostasis.
OGT controls mammalian cell viability by regulating the proteasome/mTOR/ mitochondrial axis.
Low Sulfur Amino Acid, High Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Diet Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth.
Disruption of mitochondrial dynamics triggers muscle inflammation through interorganellar contacts and mitochondrial DNA mislocation.
Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase supports macrophage NLRP3 inflammasome activation during acute inflammation.
Enteroendocrine cells protect the stem cell niche by regulating crypt metabolism in response to nutrients.
Overcoming multidrug-resistant lung cancer by mitochondrial-associated ATP inhibition using nanodrugs.
SOD1 is an essential H2S detoxifying enzyme.
Pleiotropic effects of a mitochondrion-targeted glutathione reductase inhibitor on restraining tumor cells.
An atlas of substrate specificities for the human serine/threonine kinome.
Andrographolide promoted ferroptosis to repress the development of non-small cell lung cancer through activation of the mitochondrial dysfunction.
Natural and Synthetic 2-Oxogluturate Derivatives are Substrates for Oncogenic Variants of Human Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 and 2.
Low Expression of Phosphodiesterase 2 (PDE2A) Promotes the Progression by Regulating Mitochondrial Morphology and ATP Content and Predicts Poor Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Metabolism in stem cell driven leukaemia: parallels between haematopoiesis and immunity.
A critical assessment of the role of creatine in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis.
Measuring Intracellular H 2 O 2 in Intact Human Cells Using the Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Sensor HyPer7.
Lysophosphatidylcholine inhibits lung cancer cell proliferation by regulating fatty acid metabolism enzyme long-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthase 5.
METTL16 drives leukemogenesis and leukemia stem cell self-renewal by reprogramming BCAA metabolism.
Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Diversity Shapes Tumor Metabolism in Pancreatic Cancer.
Cell-cell metabolite exchange creates a pro-survival metabolic environment that extends lifespan.
Increased expression of GPX4 promotes the tumorigenesis of thyroid cancer by inhibiting ferroptosis and predicts poor clinical outcomes.

Commun Biol. 2023 Jan 12. 6(1): 22

OxPhos defects cause hypermetabolism and reduce lifespan in cells and in patients with mitochondrial diseases.

Gabriel Sturm, Kalpita R Karan, Anna S Monzel, Balaji Santhanam, Tanja Taivassalo, Céline Bris, Sarah A Ware, Marissa Cross, Atif Towheed, Albert Higgins-Chen, Meagan J McManus, Andres Cardenas, Jue Lin, Elissa S Epel, Shamima Rahman, John Vissing, Bruno Grassi, Morgan Levine, Steve Horvath, Ronald G Haller, Guy Lenaers, Douglas C Wallace, Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Saeed Tavazoie, Vincent Procaccio, Brett A Kaufman, Erin L Seifert, Michio Hirano, Martin Picard.

Patients with primary mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) defects present with fatigue and multi-system disorders, are often lean, and die prematurely, but the mechanistic basis for this clinical picture remains unclear. By integrating data from 17 cohorts of patients with mitochondrial diseases (n = 690) we find evidence that these disorders increase resting energy expenditure, a state termed hypermetabolism. We examine this phenomenon longitudinally in patient-derived fibroblasts from multiple donors. Genetically or pharmacologically disrupting OxPhos approximately doubles cellular energy expenditure. This cell-autonomous state of hypermetabolism occurs despite near-normal OxPhos coupling efficiency, excluding uncoupling as a general mechanism. Instead, hypermetabolism is associated with mitochondrial DNA instability, activation of the integrated stress response (ISR), and increased extracellular secretion of age-related cytokines and metabokines including GDF15. In parallel, OxPhos defects accelerate telomere erosion and epigenetic aging per cell division, consistent with evidence that excess energy expenditure accelerates biological aging. To explore potential mechanisms for these effects, we generate a longitudinal RNASeq and DNA methylation resource dataset, which reveals conserved, energetically demanding, genome-wide recalibrations. Taken together, these findings highlight the need to understand how OxPhos defects influence the energetic cost of living, and the link between hypermetabolism and aging in cells and patients with mitochondrial diseases.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04303-x
Elife. 2023 Jan 09. pii: e84424. [Epub ahead of print]12

Cryo-EM structures of mitochondrial respiratory complex I from Drosophila melanogaster.

Ahmed-Noor A Agip, Injae Chung, Alvaro Sanchez-Martinez, Alexander J Whitworth, Judy Hirst.

  Respiratory complex I powers ATP synthesis by oxidative phosphorylation, exploiting the energy from NADH oxidation by ubiquinone to drive protons across an energy-transducing membrane. Drosophila melanogaster is a candidate model organism for complex I due to its high evolutionary conservation with the mammalian enzyme, well-developed genetic toolkit, and complex physiology for studies in specific cell types and tissues. Here, we isolate complex I from Drosophila and determine its structure, revealing a 43-subunit assembly with high structural homology to its 45-subunit mammalian counterpart, including a hitherto unknown homologue to subunit NDUFA3. The major conformational state of the Drosophila enzyme is the mammalian-type 'ready-to-go' active resting state, with a fully ordered and enclosed ubiquinone-binding site, but a subtly altered global conformation related to changes in subunit ND6. The mammalian-type 'deactive' pronounced resting state is not observed: in two minor states the ubiquinone-binding site is unchanged, but a deactive-type p-bulge is present in ND6-TMH3. Our detailed structural knowledge of Drosophila complex I provides a foundation for new approaches to disentangle mechanisms of complex I catalysis and regulation in bioenergetics and physiology.

Keywords:  D. melanogaster; molecular biophysics; structural biology

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84424
Bio Protoc. 2022 Dec 20. pii: e4578. [Epub ahead of print]12(24):

Monitoring Mitochondrial Protein Import Using Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence (MTS)-eGFP.

Jonas B Michaelis, Süleyman Bozkurt, Jasmin A Schäfer, Christian Münch.

  Mitochondria are cellular organelles essential for the function and survival of eukaryotic cells. Nearly all mitochondrial proteins are nuclear-encoded and require mitochondrial import upon their synthesis in the cytosol. Various approaches have been described to study mitochondrial protein import, such as monitoring the entry of radiolabeled proteins into purified mitochondria or quantifying newly synthesized proteins within mitochondria by proteomics. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for a commonly used and straightforward assay that quantitatively examines mitochondrial protein import by monitoring the co-localization of mitochondrially targeted enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) with the mitochondrial fluorescence dye MitoTracker TM Deep Red FM by live cell imaging. We describe the preparation and use of a stable mammalian cell line inducibly expressing a mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS)-eGFP, followed by quantitative image analysis using an open-source ImageJ-based plugin. This inducible expression system avoids the need for transient transfection while enabling titration of MTS-eGFP expression and thereby avoiding protein folding stress. Overall, the assay provides a simple and robust approach to assess mitochondrial import capacity of cells in various disease-related settings. This protocol was validated in: Mol Cell (2021), DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.11.004 Graphical abstract.

Keywords:   Live cell imaging ; Microscopy ; Mitochondria ; Mitochondrial protein import ; Protein translocation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.4578
Nucleic Acids Res. 2023 Jan 11. pii: gkac1233. [Epub ahead of print]

Translation initiation of leaderless and polycistronic transcripts in mammalian mitochondria.

Cristina Remes, Anas Khawaja, Sarah F Pearce, Adam M Dinan, Shreekara Gopalakrishna, Miriam Cipullo, Vasileios Kyriakidis, Jingdian Zhang, Xaquin Castro Dopico, Olessya Yukhnovets, Ilian Atanassov, Andrew E Firth, Barry Cooperman, Joanna Rorbach.

The synthesis of mitochondrial OXPHOS complexes is central to cellular metabolism, yet many molecular details of mitochondrial translation remain elusive. It has been commonly held view that translation initiation in human mitochondria proceeded in a manner similar to bacterial systems, with the mitoribosomal small subunit bound to the initiation factors, mtIF2 and mtIF3, along with initiator tRNA and an mRNA. However, unlike in bacteria, most human mitochondrial mRNAs lack 5' leader sequences that can mediate small subunit binding, raising the question of how leaderless mRNAs are recognized by mitoribosomes. By using novel in vitro mitochondrial translation initiation assays, alongside biochemical and genetic characterization of cellular knockouts of mitochondrial translation factors, we describe unique features of translation initiation in human mitochondria. We show that in vitro, leaderless mRNA transcripts can be loaded directly onto assembled 55S mitoribosomes, but not onto the mitoribosomal small subunit (28S), in a manner that requires initiator fMet-tRNAMet binding. In addition, we demonstrate that in human cells and in vitro, mtIF3 activity is not required for translation of leaderless mitochondrial transcripts but is essential for translation of ATP6 in the case of the bicistronic ATP8/ATP6 transcript. Furthermore, we show that mtIF2 is indispensable for mitochondrial protein synthesis. Our results demonstrate an important evolutionary divergence of the mitochondrial translation system and further our fundamental understanding of a process central to eukaryotic metabolism.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac1233
Theranostics. 2023 ;13(2): 438-457

Non-bioenergetic roles of mitochondrial GPD2 promote tumor progression.

Sehyun Oh, Sihyang Jo, Martina Bajzikova, Han Sun Kim, Thien T P Dao, Jakub Rohlena, Jin-Mo Kim, Jiri Neuzil, Sunghyouk Park.

  Rationale: Despite growing evidence for mitochondria's involvement in cancer, the roles of specific metabolic components outside the respiratory complex have been little explored. We conducted metabolomic studies on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-deficient (ρ0) cancer cells with lower proliferation rates to clarify the undefined roles of mitochondria in cancer growth. Methods and results: Despite extensive metabolic downregulation, ρ0 cells exhibited high glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) level, due to low activity of mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD2). Knockout (KO) of GPD2 resulted in cell growth suppression as well as inhibition of tumor progression in vivo. Surprisingly, this was unrelated to the conventional bioenergetic function of GPD2. Instead, multi-omics results suggested major changes in ether lipid metabolism, for which GPD2 provides dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) in ether lipid biosynthesis. GPD2 KO cells exhibited significantly lower ether lipid level, and their slower growth was rescued by supplementation of a DHAP precursor or ether lipids. Mechanistically, ether lipid metabolism was associated with Akt pathway, and the downregulation of Akt/mTORC1 pathway due to GPD2 KO was rescued by DHAP supplementation. Conclusion: Overall, the GPD2-ether lipid-Akt axis is newly described for the control of cancer growth. DHAP supply, a non-bioenergetic process, may constitute an important role of mitochondria in cancer.

Keywords:  DHAP; GPD2; cancer; ether lipids; mitochondria

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7150/thno.75973
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Dec 22. pii: 62. [Epub ahead of print]15(1):

The Effect of Oxidative Phosphorylation on Cancer Drug Resistance.

Ziyi Zhao, Yong Mei, Ziyang Wang, Weiling He.

  Recent studies have shown that oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is a target for the effective attenuation of cancer drug resistance. OXPHOS inhibitors can improve treatment responses to anticancer therapy in certain cancers, such as melanomas, lymphomas, colon cancers, leukemias and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the effect of OXPHOS on cancer drug resistance is complex and associated with cell types in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Cancer cells universally promote OXPHOS activity through the activation of various signaling pathways, and this activity is required for resistance to cancer therapy. Resistant cancer cells are prevalent among cancer stem cells (CSCs), for which the main metabolic phenotype is increased OXPHOS. CSCs depend on OXPHOS to survive targeting by anticancer drugs and can be selectively eradicated by OXPHOS inhibitors. In contrast to that in cancer cells, mitochondrial OXPHOS is significantly downregulated in tumor-infiltrating T cells, impairing antitumor immunity. In this review, we summarize novel research showing the effect of OXPHOS on cancer drug resistance, thereby explaining how this metabolic process plays a dual role in cancer progression. We highlight the underlying mechanisms of metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, as it is vital for discovering new drug targets.

Keywords:  cancer immunity; glycolysis; metabolism; oxidative phosphorylation; resistance

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15010062
Genes Genomics. 2023 Jan 07.

Genetic mutations affecting mitochondrial function in cancer drug resistance.

Chanhaeng Lee, Sang-Hee Park, Sungjoo Kim Yoon.

  Mitochondria are organelles that serve as a central hub for physiological processes in eukaryotes, including production of ATP, regulation of calcium dependent signaling, generation of ROS, and regulation of apoptosis. Cancer cells undergo metabolic reprogramming in an effort to support their increasing requirements for cell survival, growth, and proliferation, and mitochondria have primary roles in these processes. Because of their central function in survival of cancer cells and drug resistance, mitochondria are an important target in cancer therapy and many drugs targeting mitochondria that target the TCA cycle, apoptosis, metabolic pathway, and generation of ROS have been developed. Continued use of mitochondrial-targeting drugs can lead to resistance due to development of new somatic mutations. Use of drugs is limited due to these mutations, which have been detected in mitochondrial proteins. In this review, we will focus on genetic mutations in mitochondrial target proteins and their function in induction of drug-resistance.

Keywords:  Chemotherapy; Drug resistance; Mitochondria targeting drugs; Mutations in mitochondrial proteins

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-022-01359-1
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Jan 08.

Mass Spectrometry Reveals High Levels of Hydrogen Peroxide in Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

Qinlei Liu, Wenjie Ge, Sandra Martínez-Jarquín, Yuliang He, Ri Wu, Markus Stoffel, Renato Zenobi.

  Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are critical for many cellular functions, and dysregulation of ROS involves the development of multiple types of tumors, including pancreatic cancer. However, ROS have been grouped into a single biochemical entity for a long time, and the specific roles of certain types of ROS in tumor cells (e.g., pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)) have not been systematically investigated. In this work, a highly sensitive and accurate mass spectrometry-based method was applied to study PDAC cells of humans and of genetically modified animals. The results show that the oncogenic KRAS mutation promotes the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) rather than superoxide or hydroxyl radicals in pancreatic cancer cells. We further identified that the enriched H2O2 modifies cellular metabolites and promotes the survival of pancreatic cancer cells. These findings highlight the specific roles of H2O2 in pancreatic cancer development, which may provide new directions for pancreatic cancer therapy.

Keywords:  ESI-MS; Reactive oxygen species; hydrogen peroxide; metabolic changes; pancreatic cancer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202213703
J Biol Chem. 2023 Jan 07. pii: S0021-9258(23)00013-3. [Epub ahead of print] 102881

The impact of glucose on mitochondria and lifespan is determined by the integrity of proline catabolism in C. elegans.

Xi Feng, Xinyu Wang, Lei Zhou, Shanshan Pang, Haiqing Tang.

  Mutations in genes involved in mitochondrial proline catabolism lead to the rare genetic disorder hyperprolinemia in humans. We have previously reported that mutations of proline catabolic genes in C. elegans impair mitochondrial homeostasis and shorten lifespan, and that these effects surprisingly occur in a diet type-dependent manner. Therefore, we speculated that a specific dietary component may mitigate the adverse effects of defective proline catabolism. Here, we discovered that high dietary glucose, which is generally detrimental to health, actually improves mitochondrial homeostasis and lifespan in C. elegans with faulty proline catabolism. Mechanistically, defective proline catabolism results in a shift of glucose catabolism towards the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), which is crucial for cellular redox balance. This shift helps to maintain mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and to extend lifespan, as suppression of the PPP enzyme GSPD-1 prevents the favorable effects of high glucose. Additionally, we demonstrate that this crosstalk between proline and glucose catabolism is mediated by the transcription factor DAF-16. Altogether, these findings suggest that a glucose-rich diet may be advantageous in certain situations, and might represent a potentially viable treatment strategy for disorders involving impaired proline catabolism.

Keywords:  C. elegans; ROS; glucose metabolism; lifespan; mitochondria; pentose phosphate pathway; proline catabolism

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2023.102881
Cells. 2022 Dec 27. pii: 107. [Epub ahead of print]12(1):

Regulation of Mitochondrial Hydrogen Peroxide Availability by Protein S-glutathionylation.

Ryan J Mailloux, Cathryn Grayson, Olivia Koufos.

   BACKGROUND: It has been four decades since protein S-glutathionylation was proposed to serve as a regulator of cell metabolism. Since then, this redox-sensitive covalent modification has been identified as a cell-wide signaling platform required for embryonic development and regulation of many physiological functions.
SCOPE OF THE REVIEW: Mitochondria use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a second messenger, but its availability must be controlled to prevent oxidative distress and promote changes in cell behavior in response to stimuli. Experimental data favor the function of protein S-glutathionylation as a feedback loop for the inhibition of mitochondrial H2O2 production.
MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: The glutathione pool redox state is linked to the availability of H2O2, making glutathionylation an ideal mechanism for preventing oxidative distress whilst playing a part in desensitizing mitochondrial redox signals.
GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The biological significance of glutathionylation is rooted in redox status communication. The present review critically evaluates the experimental evidence supporting its role in negating mitochondrial H2O2 production for cell signaling and prevention of electrophilic stress.

Keywords:  bioenergetics; glutathionylation; hydrogen peroxide; mitochondria; redox signaling

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12010107
STAR Protoc. 2023 Jan 06. pii: S2666-1667(22)00876-0. [Epub ahead of print]4(1): 101996

Protocol for direct measurement of stability and activity of mitochondria electron transport chain complex II.

Himangshu S Bose, Nicole E Doetch.

  Mitochondria electron transport chain (ETC) complex II is essential for steroid metabolism. Here, we present a protocol to measure the stability and activity of mitochondria ETC complex II. We first describe mitochondria isolation from cell lines and tissues. We then detail how to determine the stability of ETC complex II using isothermal calorimetry and quantification of steroidogenesis using activity assays in parallel. Finally, we describe the steps to perform radioimmunoassay (RIA) to confirm the activity of ETC complex II. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Bose et al. (2020).1.

Keywords:  Cell Isolation; Cell-based Assays; Metabolism; Protein Biochemistry

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101996
Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2023 Jan 09. pii: S0960-894X(23)00007-0. [Epub ahead of print] 129129

Investigation of mitochondrial targeting ability of sydnones and sydnonimines and mitochondria-targeted delivery of celecoxib.

Wenyuan Xu, Hongzhe Yu, Ruohan Zhao, Yong Liang.

  Mitochondria are considered to be a promising target in cancer diagnosis and therapeutics. Recently, sydnone and sydnonimine, as mesoionic bioorthogonal reagents, have been used in cell labeling and drug delivery. Here we investigated the mitochondrial targeting ability of sydnones and sydnonimines for the first time. Experimental results show that sydnone and sydnonimine themselves have high mitochondrial distribution. However, the introduction of a phenyl group into the C4 position of sydnone dramatically decreases the mitochondrial affinity. In addition, we took advantage of mitochondrial targeting ability and click-and-release reaction of sydnonimine to evaluate anticancer activities of in-mitochondria delivery of celecoxib against HeLa and HepG2 cells, indicating that celecoxib-induced cancer cell death may not involve mitochondria-related pathway.

Keywords:  Celecoxib; Click-and-release; Mitochondria-targeted; Sydnone; Sydnonimine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129129
Biochem Genet. 2023 Jan 12.

Wild-type IDH1 Knockout Leads to G0/G1 Arrest, Impairs Cancer Cell Proliferation, Altering Glycolysis, and the TCA Cycle in Colon Cancer.

Esra Bulut Atalay, Serif Senturk, Hulya Ayar Kayali.

  The isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), which participates in the TCA cycle, is an important key enzyme in regulating cell metabolism. The effect of the metabolic IDH enzyme on cancer pathogenesis has recently been shown in different types of cancer. However, the role of wild-type (wt) IDH1 in the development of colon cancer is still unknown. Our study investigated the role of the IDH1 enzyme in key hallmarks of colon cancer using various methods such as wound healing, cell cycle, colony formation ability, invasion, and apoptosis analysis. Furthermore, cell metabolism was investigated by pyruvate analysis, dinitrosalicylic acid, and HPLC methods. In addition, CRISPR/Cas9 tool was utilized to knockout the IDH1 gene in colon adenocarcinoma cells (SW620). Further studies were performed in two isogenic IDH1 KO clones. Our findings in both clones suggest that IDH1 KO results in G0/G1 arrest, and reduces proliferation by approximately twofold compared to IDH1 WT cells. In addition, the invasion, migration, and colony formation abilities of IDH1 KO clones were significantly decreased accompanied by significant morphological changes. In the context of metabolism, intracellular glucose, pyruvate, αKG, and malate levels were decreased, while the intracellular citrate level was increased in IDH1 KO clones as compared to IDH1 WT cells. Our results reveal that wt IDH1 knockout leads to a decrease in the aggressive features of colon cancer cells. In conclusion, we reported that wt IDH1 has an effective role in colon cancer progression and could be a potential therapeutic target.

Keywords:  CRISPR/Cas9 method; Colon cancer; Glycolysis; IDH1 silencing; Knockout; Metabolism; TCA cycle; Therapeutic target; Wild-type IDH1

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-022-10325-1
Biochimie. 2023 Jan 10. pii: S0300-9084(23)00005-6. [Epub ahead of print]

Lactic fermentation: A maladaptive mechanism and an evolutionary throwback boosting cancer drug resistance.

Davide Gnocchi, Carlo Sabbà, Antonio Mazzocca.

  After four decades of research primarily focused on tumour genetics, the importance of metabolism in tumour biology is receiving renewed attention. Cancer cells undergo energy, biosynthetic and metabolic rewiring, which involves several pathways with a prevalent change from oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to lactic acid fermentation, known as the Warburg effect. During carcinogenesis, microenvironmental changes can trigger the transition from OXPHOS to lactic acid fermentation, an ancient form of energy supply, mimicking the behaviour of certain anaerobic unicellular organisms according to "atavistic" models of cancer. However, the role of this transition as a mechanism of cancer drug resistance is unclear. Here, we hypothesise that the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells to fermentation can be triggered, enhanced, and sustained by exposure to chronic or high-dose chemotherapy, thereby conferring resistance to drug therapy. We try to expand on the idea that metabolic reprogramming from OXPHOS to lactate fermentation in drug-resistant tumour cells occurs as a general phenotypic mechanism in any type of cancer, regardless of tumour cell heterogeneity, biodiversity, and genetic characteristics. This metabolic response may therefore represent a common feature in cancer biology that could be exploited for therapeutic purposes to overcome chemotherapy resistance, which is currently a major challenge in cancer treatment.

Keywords:  Atavistic throwback; Drug resistance; Lactic acid fermentation; Maladaptive evolution; Metabolic switch

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biochi.2023.01.005
Cell Rep. 2022 Dec 29. pii: S2211-1247(22)01810-1. [Epub ahead of print]42(1): 111911

ATP6V0D1 promotes alkaliptosis by blocking STAT3-mediated lysosomal pH homeostasis.

Fangquan Chen, Shan Zhu, Rui Kang, Daolin Tang, Jiao Liu.

  Alkaliptosis, a type of regulated cell death driven by intracellular alkalization, was first described in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells after treatment with the opioid analgesic drug JTC801. Here, we used mass-spectrometry-based drug target identification, cellular thermal shift assay, and point mutation technologies to reveal ATP6V0D1 as a direct JTC801 target that drives alkaliptosis in human PDAC cells. Functionally, the protein stability of ATP6V0D1, when mediated by JTC801, increases the interaction between ATP6V0D1 and STAT3, resulting in increased expression and activity of STAT3 for sustaining lysosome homeostasis. Consequently, the pharmacological or genetic inhibition of STAT3 restores the sensitivity of ATP6V0D1-deficient cells to alkaliptosis in vitro or in suitable mouse models. Clinically, a high expression of ATP6V0D1 correlates with prolonged survival of patients with PDAC. Together, these results illustrate a link between ATP6V0D1 and PDAC and advance our understanding of alkaliptosis in targeted therapy.

Keywords:  ATP6V0D1; CP: Cancer; STAT3; alkaliptosis; lysosome; pancreatic cancer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111911
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 17. 120(3): e2218332120

OGT controls mammalian cell viability by regulating the proteasome/mTOR/ mitochondrial axis.

Xiang Li, Xiaojing Yue, Hugo Sepulveda, Rajan A Burt, David A Scott, Steven A Carr, Samuel A Myers, Anjana Rao.

  O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) modifies serine and threonine residues on nuclear and cytosolic proteins with O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). OGT is essential for mammalian cell viability, but the underlying mechanisms are still enigmatic. We performed a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to identify candidates whose depletion rescued the block in cell proliferation induced by OGT deficiency. We show that the block in cell proliferation in OGT-deficient cells stems from mitochondrial dysfunction secondary to mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) hyperactivation. In normal cells, OGT maintains low mTOR activity and mitochondrial fitness through suppression of proteasome activity; in the absence of OGT, increased proteasome activity results in increased steady-state amino acid levels, which in turn promote mTOR lysosomal translocation and activation, and increased oxidative phosphorylation. mTOR activation in OGT-deficient mESCs was confirmed by an independent phospho-proteomic screen. Our study highlights a unique series of events whereby OGT regulates the proteasome/ mTOR/ mitochondrial axis in a manner that maintains homeostasis of intracellular amino acid levels, mitochondrial fitness, and cell viability. A similar mechanism operates in CD8+ T cells, indicating its generality across mammalian cell types. Manipulating OGT activity may have therapeutic potential in diseases in which this signaling pathway is impaired.

Keywords:  OGT; genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen; mTOR; mitochondrion; proteasome

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218332120
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Dec 23. pii: 249. [Epub ahead of print]24(1):

Low Sulfur Amino Acid, High Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Diet Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth.

Riccardo Turchi, Flavia Tortolici, Monica Benvenuto, Carolina Punziano, Anastasia De Luca, Stefano Rufini, Raffaella Faraonio, Roberto Bei, Daniele Lettieri-Barbato, Katia Aquilano.

  Cancer cells may acquire resistance to stress signals and reprogram metabolism to meet the energetic demands to support their high proliferation rate and avoid death. Hence, targeting nutrient dependencies of cancer cells has been suggested as a promising anti-cancer strategy. We explored the possibility of killing breast cancer (BC) cells by modifying nutrient availability. We used in vitro models of BC (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231) that were maintained with a low amount of sulfur amino acids (SAAs) and a high amount of oxidizable polyunsatured fatty acids (PUFAs). Treatment with anti-apoptotic, anti-ferroptotic and antioxidant drugs were used to determine the modality of cell death. We reproduced these conditions in vivo by feeding BC-bearing mice with a diet poor in proteins and SAAs and rich in PUFAs (LSAA/HPUFA). Western blot analysis, qPCR and histological analyses were used to assess the anti-cancer effects and the molecular pathways involved. We found that BC cells underwent oxidative damage to DNA and proteins and both apoptosis and ferroptosis were induced. Along with caspases-mediated PARP1 cleavage, we found a lowering of the GSH-GPX4 system and an increase of lipid peroxides. A LSAA/HPUFA diet reduced tumor mass and its vascularization and immune cell infiltration, and induced apoptosis and ferroptotic hallmarks. Furthermore, mitochondrial mass was found to be increased, and the buffering of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species limited GPX4 reduction and DNA damage. Our results suggest that administration of custom diets, targeting the dependency of cancer cells on certain nutrients, can represent a promising complementary option for anti-cancer therapy.

Keywords:  NRF2; ferroptosis; ferrostatin-1; lipid peroxidation; mitochondria; p53

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010249
Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 06. 14(1): 108

Disruption of mitochondrial dynamics triggers muscle inflammation through interorganellar contacts and mitochondrial DNA mislocation.

Andrea Irazoki, Isabel Gordaliza-Alaguero, Emma Frank, Nikolaos Nikiforos Giakoumakis, Jordi Seco, Manuel Palacín, Anna Gumà, Lykke Sylow, David Sebastián, Antonio Zorzano.

Some forms of mitochondrial dysfunction induce sterile inflammation through mitochondrial DNA recognition by intracellular DNA sensors. However, the involvement of mitochondrial dynamics in mitigating such processes and their impact on muscle fitness remain unaddressed. Here we report that opposite mitochondrial morphologies induce distinct inflammatory signatures, caused by differential activation of DNA sensors TLR9 or cGAS. In the context of mitochondrial fragmentation, we demonstrate that mitochondria-endosome contacts mediated by the endosomal protein Rab5C are required in TLR9 activation in cells. Skeletal muscle mitochondrial fragmentation promotes TLR9-dependent inflammation, muscle atrophy, reduced physical performance and enhanced IL6 response to exercise, which improved upon chronic anti-inflammatory treatment. Taken together, our data demonstrate that mitochondrial dynamics is key in preventing sterile inflammatory responses, which precede the development of muscle atrophy and impaired physical performance. Thus, we propose the targeting of mitochondrial dynamics as an approach to treating disorders characterized by chronic inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35732-1
Cell Rep. 2023 Jan 09. pii: S2211-1247(22)01842-3. [Epub ahead of print]42(1): 111941

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase supports macrophage NLRP3 inflammasome activation during acute inflammation.

Allison K Meyers, Zhan Wang, Wenzheng Han, Qingxia Zhao, Manal Zabalawi, Likun Duan, Juan Liu, Qianyi Zhang, Rajesh K Manne, Felipe Lorenzo, Matthew A Quinn, Qianqian Song, Daping Fan, Hui-Kuan Lin, Cristina M Furdui, Jason W Locasale, Charles E McCall, Xuewei Zhu.

  Activating the macrophage NLRP3 inflammasome can promote excessive inflammation with severe cell and tissue damage and organ dysfunction. Here, we show that pharmacological or genetic inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDHK) significantly attenuates NLRP3 inflammasome activation in murine and human macrophages and septic mice by lowering caspase-1 cleavage and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) secretion. Inhibiting PDHK reverses NLRP3 inflammasome-induced metabolic reprogramming, enhances autophagy, promotes mitochondrial fusion over fission, preserves crista ultrastructure, and attenuates mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The suppressive effect of PDHK inhibition on the NLRP3 inflammasome is independent of its canonical role as a pyruvate dehydrogenase regulator. Our study suggestsa non-canonical role of mitochondrial PDHK in promoting mitochondrial stress and supporting NLRP3 inflammasome activation during acute inflammation.

Keywords:  CP: Immunology; NLRP3 inflammasome; autophagy; cristae; immunometabolism; macrophages; metabolic flux; mitochondria; mitochondrial fission and fusion; pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase; sepsis

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111941
Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023 Jan 03. pii: S2352-345X(22)00267-3. [Epub ahead of print]

Enteroendocrine cells protect the stem cell niche by regulating crypt metabolism in response to nutrients.

Heather A McCauley, Anne Marie Riedman, Jacob R Enriquez, Xinghao Zhang, Miki Watanabe-Chailland, J Guillermo Sanchez, Daniel O Kechele, Emily F Paul, Kayle Riley, Courtney Burger, Richard A Lang, James M Wells.

   BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The intestinal stem cell niche is exquisitely sensitive to changes in diet, with high fat diet, caloric restriction, and fasting resulting in altered crypt metabolism and intestinal stem cell function. Unlike cells on the villus, cells in the crypt are not immediately exposed to the dynamically changing contents of the lumen. We hypothesized that enteroendocrine cells (EECs), which sense environmental cues and in response release hormones and metabolites, are essential for relaying the luminal and nutritional status of the animal to cells deep in the crypt.
METHODS: We used the tamoxifen-inducible VillinCreERT2 mouse model to deplete EECs (Neurog3fl/fl) from adult intestinal epithelium and we generated human intestinal organoids from wild-type and NEUROG3-null human pluripotent stem cells. We used indirect calorimetry, 1H-NMR metabolomics, mitochondrial live imaging, and the Seahorse bioanalyzer to assess metabolism. Intestinal stem cell activity was measured by proliferation and enteroid-forming capacity. Transcriptional changes were assessed using 10X Genomics single-cell sequencing.
RESULTS: Loss of EECs resulted in increased energy expenditure in mice, an abundance of active mitochondria, and a shift of crypt metabolism to fatty acid oxidation. Crypts from mouse and human intestinal organoids lacking EECs displayed increased intestinal stem cell activity and failed to activate phospho-S6 ribosomal protein, a marker for activity of the master metabolic regulator mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). These phenotypes were similar to those observed when control mice were deprived of nutrients.
CONCLUSIONS: EECs are essential regulators of crypt metabolism. Depletion of EECs recapitulated a fasting metabolic phenotype despite normal levels of ingested nutrients. These data suggest that EECs are required to relay nutritional information to the stem cell niche and are essential regulators of intestinal metabolism.

Keywords:  enteroendocrine cells; intestinal metabolism; intestinal stem cell; mitochondria

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmgh.2022.12.016
J Nanobiotechnology. 2023 Jan 12. 21(1): 12

Overcoming multidrug-resistant lung cancer by mitochondrial-associated ATP inhibition using nanodrugs.

Jun-Young Park, Gyu-Ho Lee, Kwai Han Yoo, Dongwoo Khang.

  Despite the development of therapeutic modalities to treat cancer, multidrug resistance (MDR) and incomplete destruction of deeply embedded lung tumors remain long-standing problems responsible for tumor recurrence and low survival rates. Therefore, developing therapeutic approaches to treat MDR tumors is necessary. In this study, nanodrugs with enhanced intracellular drug internalization were identified by the covalent bonding of carbon nanotubes of a specific nano size and doxorubicin (DOX). In addition, carbon nanotube conjugated DOX (CNT-DOX) sustained in the intracellular environment in multidrug-resistant tumor cells for a long time causes mitochondrial damage, suppresses ATP production, and results in the effective therapeutic effect of drug-resistant tumors. This study identified that H69AR lung cancer cells, an adriamycin (DOX) drug-resistant tumor cell line, did not activate drug resistance function on designed nano-anticancer drugs with a specific nano size. In summary, this study identified that the specific size of the nanodrug in combination with DOX overcame multidrug-resistant tumors by inducing selective accumulation in tumor cells and inhibiting ATP by mitochondrial damage.

Keywords:  Carbon nanotube; Doxorubicin; Endosomal escape; Mitochondrial damage; Multidrug resistant cell; Small cell lung cancer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-023-01768-8
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 17. 120(3): e2205044120

SOD1 is an essential H2S detoxifying enzyme.

Christopher H Switzer, Shingo Kasamatsu, Hideshi Ihara, Philip Eaton.

  Although hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an endogenous signaling molecule with antioxidant properties, it is also cytotoxic by potently inhibiting cytochrome c oxidase and mitochondrial respiration. Paradoxically, the primary route of H2S detoxification is thought to occur inside the mitochondrial matrix via a series of relatively slow enzymatic reactions that are unlikely to compete with its rapid inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase. Therefore, alternative or complementary cellular mechanisms of H2S detoxification are predicted to exist. Here, superoxide dismutase [Cu-Zn] (SOD1) is shown to be an efficient H2S oxidase that has an essential role in limiting cytotoxicity from endogenous and exogenous sulfide. Decreased SOD1 expression resulted in increased sensitivity to H2S toxicity in yeast and human cells, while increased SOD1 expression enhanced tolerance to H2S. SOD1 rapidly converted H2S to sulfate under conditions of limiting sulfide; however, when sulfide was in molar excess, SOD1 catalyzed the formation of per- and polysulfides, which induce cellular thiol oxidation. Furthermore, in SOD1-deficient cells, elevated levels of reactive oxygen species catalyzed sulfide oxidation to per- and polysulfides. These data reveal that a fundamental function of SOD1 is to regulate H2S and related reactive sulfur species.

Keywords:  SOD1; hydrogen sulfide; persulfide; polysulfide; reactive sulfur species

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2205044120
Eur J Med Chem. 2022 Dec 28. pii: S0223-5234(22)00971-0. [Epub ahead of print]248 115069

Pleiotropic effects of a mitochondrion-targeted glutathione reductase inhibitor on restraining tumor cells.

Renshuai Zhang, Na Xiao, Qi Xu, Qiuyu Gong, Fandong Kong, Hongfei Jiang.

  Mitochondria has been identified as a target for tumor therapy. Agents preferentially concentrated in mitochondria may exert more potent antitumor effects by interfering with the normal function of mitochondria. Glutathione reductase (GR) in mitochondria is a crucial antioxidant enzyme to maintain mitochondrial function, and has been recognized as an important target for the development of anticancer drugs. Herein, we present a triphenylphosphonium-modified anticancer agent, MT-1, which can preferentially accumulate in mitochondria and bind to GR by covalent binding manner. As a result, morphology and function of mitochondria were severely damaged, as well as cellular energy supply was severely impeded due to the simultaneously inhibition against mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis. Moreover, MT-1 was found to bind to a completely new site of GR (C278) that has never considered as binding site of inhibitors before. This new binding mode led to the change of GR structure, which affected the stability of the transition state of the catalytic process, and finally led to the inhibition of GR activity. Thus, current study provided a potentially novel tumor therapeutic strategy by targeting novel sites of GR in mitochondrion.

Keywords:  Antitumor agents; Glutathione reductase; Metabolism; Mitochondria; Redox homeostasis

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.115069
Nature. 2023 Jan 11.

An atlas of substrate specificities for the human serine/threonine kinome.

Jared L Johnson, Tomer M Yaron, Emily M Huntsman, Alexander Kerelsky, Junho Song, Amit Regev, Ting-Yu Lin, Katarina Liberatore, Daniel M Cizin, Benjamin M Cohen, Neil Vasan, Yilun Ma, Konstantin Krismer, Jaylissa Torres Robles, Bert van de Kooij, Anne E van Vlimmeren, Nicole Andrée-Busch, Norbert F Käufer, Maxim V Dorovkov, Alexey G Ryazanov, Yuichiro Takagi, Edward R Kastenhuber, Marcus D Goncalves, Benjamin D Hopkins, Olivier Elemento, Dylan J Taatjes, Alexandre Maucuer, Akio Yamashita, Alexei Degterev, Mohamed Uduman, Jingyi Lu, Sean D Landry, Bin Zhang, Ian Cossentino, Rune Linding, John Blenis, Peter V Hornbeck, Benjamin E Turk, Michael B Yaffe, Lewis C Cantley.

Protein phosphorylation is one of the most widespread post-translational modifications in biology1,2. With advances in mass-spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics, 90,000 sites of serine and threonine phosphorylation have so far been identified, and several thousand have been associated with human diseases and biological processes3,4. For the vast majority of phosphorylation events, it is not yet known which of the more than 300 protein serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) kinases encoded in the human genome are responsible3. Here we used synthetic peptide libraries to profile the substrate sequence specificity of 303 Ser/Thr kinases, comprising more than 84% of those predicted to be active in humans. Viewed in its entirety, the substrate specificity of the kinome was substantially more diverse than expected and was driven extensively by negative selectivity. We used our kinome-wide dataset to computationally annotate and identify the kinases capable of phosphorylating every reported phosphorylation site in the human Ser/Thr phosphoproteome. For the small minority of phosphosites for which the putative protein kinases involved have been previously reported, our predictions were in excellent agreement. When this approach was applied to examine the signalling response of tissues and cell lines to hormones, growth factors, targeted inhibitors and environmental or genetic perturbations, it revealed unexpected insights into pathway complexity and compensation. Overall, these studies reveal the intrinsic substrate specificity of the human Ser/Thr kinome, illuminate cellular signalling responses and provide a resource to link phosphorylation events to biological pathways.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05575-3
Phytomedicine. 2023 Jan;pii: S0944-7113(22)00689-4. [Epub ahead of print]109 154601

Andrographolide promoted ferroptosis to repress the development of non-small cell lung cancer through activation of the mitochondrial dysfunction.

Li Jiaqi, Huang Siqing, Wang Qin, Zhou di, Zhao Bei, Yao Jialin.

   BACKGROUND: Ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death by lipid peroxidation, was currently considered as a key factor affecting the occurrence and progression in various cancers. Andrographolide (ADE), a major effective ingredient of Andrographis paniculate, has proven to have a substantial anti-tumor effect on multiple cancer types. However, the function and underlying mechanism of ADE in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer remain unclear.
METHODS: CCK8 assay, colony-formation assay, flow cytometry, scratch test, transwell assay, western blotting, ferroptosis analysis and mitochondria analysis were performed to reveal the role and underlying mechanisms of ADE in NSCLC cell lines (H460 and H1650). In vivo, xenograft model and lung metastatic model were performed to verify the effect of ADE on the growth and metastasis of NSCLC.
RESULTS: In this present study, we demonstrated that treatment with ADE could inhibit cell growth and metastases through eliciting ferroptosis in vitro an in vivo. The IC50 of ADE in H460 and H1650 cells were 33.16 μM and 32.45 μM respectively. In Lewis xenografted animals, i.p. ADE repressed relative tumor growth (p < 0.01) and inhibited metastases (p < 0.01). Notably, the ferroptosis inhibitor Fer-1 abrogated the anti-tumor capacity of ADE. Induction of ferroptosis by ADE was confirmed by elevated levels of reactive oxygen sepsis (ROS), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), intracellular iron content and lipid ROS reduced glutathione (GSH) accumulation (p < 0.01). Furthermore, ADE inhibited the expression of ferroptosis-related protein GPX4 and SLC7A11. Simultaneously, it also disclosed that ADE enhanced mitochondrial dysfunction, as evidenced by increased mitochondrial ROS release, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) depolarization, and decreased mitochondrial ATP. Most interestingly, Mito-TEMPO, a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant, rescued ADE-induced ferroptosis.
CONCLUSION: Our data validated that ADE treatment could restrain proliferation and metastases of NSCLC cells through induction of ferroptosis via potentiating mitochondrial dysfunction.

Keywords:  Andrographolide; Chinese medicine; Ferroptosis; Mitochondrial dysfunction; NSCLC

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154601
J Biol Chem. 2023 Jan 05. pii: S0021-9258(23)00005-4. [Epub ahead of print] 102873

Natural and Synthetic 2-Oxogluturate Derivatives are Substrates for Oncogenic Variants of Human Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 and 2.

Xiao Liu, Raphael Reinbold, Shuang Liu, Ryan A Herold, Patrick Rabe, Stéphanie Duclos, Rahul B Yadav, Martine I Abboud, Sandrine Thieffine, Fraser A Armstrong, Lennart Brewitz, Christopher J Schofield.

  Variants of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 and 2 (IDH1/2) alter metabolism in cancer cells by catalyzing the NADPH-dependent reduction of 2-oxoglutate (2OG) to (2R)-hydroxyglutarate (2HG). However, it is unclear how derivatives of 2OG can affect cancer cell metabolism. Here, we used synthetic C3 and C4 alkylated 2OG derivatives to investigate the substrate selectivities of the most common cancer-associated IDH1 variant (R132H IDH1), of two cancer-associated IDH2 variants (R172K IDH2, R140Q IDH2), and of wildtype IDH1/2. Absorbance-based, NMR and electrochemical assays were employed to monitor wildtype IDH1/2 and IDH1/2 variant-catalyzed 2OG derivative turnover in the presence and absence of 2OG. Our results reveal that 2OG derivatives can serve as substrates of the investigated IDH1/2 variants, but not of wildtype IDH1/2, and have the potential to act as 2OG-competitive inhibitors. Kinetic parameters reveal that some 2OG derivatives, including the natural product 3-methyl-2OG, are equally or even more efficient IDH1/2 variant substrates compared to 2OG. Furthermore, NMR and mass spectrometry studies confirmed IDH1/2 variant-catalyzed production of alcohols in the cases of the 3-methyl-, 3-butyl-, and 3-benzyl-substituted 2OG derivatives; a crystal structure of 3-butyl-2OG with an IDH1 variant (R132C/S280F IDH1) reveals active site binding. The combined results highlight the potential for (i) IDH1/2 variant-catalyzed reduction of 2-oxoacids other than 2OG in cells, (ii) modulation of IDH1/2 variant activity by 2-oxoacid natural products, including some present in common foods, (iii) inhibition of IDH1/2 variants via active site binding rather than the established allosteric mode of inhibition, and (iv) possible use of IDH1/2 variants as biocatalysts.

Keywords:  (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate; 2-oxoacids; 2-oxoglutarate; 2HG; 2OG; IDH; Isocitrate dehydrogenase; acute myeloid leukemia; alternative substrates; cancer metabolism-related IDH mutations; epigenetics; α-ketoacids; α-ketoglutarate

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2023.102873
Cells. 2022 Dec 23. pii: 68. [Epub ahead of print]12(1):

Low Expression of Phosphodiesterase 2 (PDE2A) Promotes the Progression by Regulating Mitochondrial Morphology and ATP Content and Predicts Poor Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Lin Chen, Jinchi Zhou, Zifeng Zhao, Yuhan Zhu, Jinliang Xing, Jiaze An, Xu Guo.

  Phosphodiesterase 2 (PDE2A) modulates the levels of cAMP/cGMP and was recently found to be involved in mitochondria function regulation, closely related to multiple types of tumor progression. This study aimed to estimate the prognostic significance and biological effects of PDE2A on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We comprehensively analyzed the PDE2A mRNA expression in HCC based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and investigated the effects of PDE2A on the proliferation and metastatic capacity of HCC cells. PDE2A was downregulated in 25 cancer types, including HCC. Lower PDE2A expression was a protective factor in HCC and was negatively associated with serum AFP levels, tumor status, vascular invasion, histologic grade, and pathologic stage of HCC. Moreover, tumors with low PDE2A expression displayed a decreased immune function. Then, the ROC curve was used to assess the diagnostic ability of PDE2A in HCC (AUC = 0.823 in TCGA and AUC = 0.901 in GSE76427). Patients with low PDE2A expression exhibited worse outcomes compared with those with high PDE2A expression. Additionally, GO functional annotations demonstrated the involvement of PDE2A in the ECM organization, systems development, and ERK-related pathways, indicating that PDE2A might regulate HCC growth and metastasis. The in vitro experiments confirmed that overexpression of PDE2A inhibited proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion in two HCC cell lines (HLF and SNU-368), while inhibition of PDE2A has the opposite results. The mechanism of PDE2A's effect on HCC cells is attributed to the change of mitochondrial morphology and ATP content. These data demonstrated that PDE2A closely participated in the regulation of HCC proliferation and metastasis and can be used as a predictive marker candidate and a potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Keywords:  ATP content; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); mitochondrial morphology; phosphodiesterase 2 (PDE2A); prognosis

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12010068
Blood. 2023 Jan 12. pii: blood.2022018258. [Epub ahead of print]

Metabolism in stem cell driven leukaemia: parallels between haematopoiesis and immunity.

Kevin M Rattigan, Martha M Zarou, Vignir Helgason.

Our understanding of cancer metabolism spans from its role in cellular energetics and supplying the building blocks necessary for proliferation, to maintaining cellular redox and regulating the cellular epigenome and transcriptome. Cancer metabolism, once thought to be solely driven by upregulated glycolysis, is now known to comprise of multiple pathways with great plasticity in response to extrinsic challenges. Furthermore, cancer cells can modify their surrounding niche during disease initiation, maintenance and metastasis, contributing to therapy resistance. Leukaemia is a paradigm model of stem cell driven cancer. Here, we review how leukaemia remodels the niche and rewires its metabolism with particular attention paid to therapy-resistant stem cells. Specifically, we aim to give a global, non-exhaustive overview of key metabolic pathways. By contrasting the metabolic rewiring required by myeloid leukaemic stem cells with that required for haematopoiesis and immune cell function, we highlight the metabolic features they share. This is a critical consideration when contemplating anti-cancer metabolic inhibitor options, especially in the context of anti-cancer immune therapies. Finally, we examine pathways that have not been studied in leukaemia but are critical in solid cancers in the context of metastasis and interaction with new niches. These studies also offer detailed mechanisms that have yet to be investigated in leukaemia. Given that cancer (and normal) cells can meet their energy requirements by not only upregulating metabolic pathways, but also utilising systemically available substrates, we aim to inform how interlinked these metabolic pathways are, both within leukaemic cells and between cancer cells and their niche.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2022018258
Nat Metab. 2023 Jan 09.

A critical assessment of the role of creatine in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis.

David G Nicholls, Martin D Brand.

Brown adipose tissue is specialized for non-shivering thermogenesis, combining lipolysis with an extremely active mitochondrial electron transport chain and a unique regulated uncoupling protein, UCP1, allowing unrestricted respiration. Current excitement focuses on the presence of brown adipose tissue in humans and the possibility that it may contribute to diet-induced thermogenesis, countering obesity and obesity-related disease as well as protecting cardio-metabolic health. In common with other tissues displaying a high, variable respiration, the tissue possesses a creatine pool and mitochondrial and cytosolic creatine kinase isoforms. Genetic and pharmacological manipulation of these components have pleiotropic effects that appear to influence diet- and cold-induced metabolism in vivo and modeled in vitro. These findings have been used to advance the concept of a UCP1-independent diet-induced thermogenic mechanism based on a dissipative hydrolysis of phosphocreatine in beige and brown adipose tissue. Here we review the in vivo and in vitro experimental basis for this hypothesis, and explore alternative explanations. We conclude that there is currently no convincing evidence for a significant futile creatine cycle in these tissues.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00718-2
Bio Protoc. 2022 Oct 20. pii: e4538. [Epub ahead of print]12(20):

Measuring Intracellular H 2 O 2 in Intact Human Cells Using the Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Sensor HyPer7.

Lianne J H C Jacobs, Michaela N Hoehne, Jan Riemer.

  Depending on its local concentration, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) can serve as a cellular signaling molecule but can also cause damage to biomolecules. The levels of H 2O2 are influenced by the activity of its generator sites, local antioxidative systems, and the metabolic state of the cell. To study and understand the role of H2O2 in cellular signaling, it is crucial to assess its dynamics with high spatiotemporal resolution. Measuring these subcellular H2O2 dynamics has been challenging. However, with the introduction of the super sensitive pH-independent genetically encoded fluorescent H2O2sensor HyPer7, many limitations of previous measurement approaches could be overcome. Here, we describe a method to measure local H2O2 dynamics in intact human cells, utilizing the HyPer7 sensor in combination with a microscopic multi-mode microplate reader. Graphical abstract: Overview of HyPer7 sensor function and measurement results.

Keywords:   H2O2 measurement ; HyPer7 ; Real-time imaging ; Subcellular resolution ; pH-independent

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.4538
Clin Transl Med. 2023 Jan;13(1): e1180

Lysophosphatidylcholine inhibits lung cancer cell proliferation by regulating fatty acid metabolism enzyme long-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthase 5.

Linlin Zhang, Xuanqi Liu, Yifei Liu, Furong Yan, Yiming Zeng, Yuanlin Song, Hao Fang, Dongli Song, Xiangdong Wang.

  Lung cancer is a widespread malignancy with a high death rate and disorder of lipid metabolism. Lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) has anti-tumour effects, although the underlying mechanism is not entirely known. The purpose of this study aims at defining changes in lysoPC in lung cancer patients, the effects of lysoPC on lung cancer cells and molecular mechanisms. Lung cancer cell sensitivity to lysoPC was evaluated and decisive roles of long-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthase 5 (ACSL5) in lysoPC regulation were defined by comprehensively evaluating transcriptomic changes of ACSL5-downregulated epithelia. ACSL5 over-expressed in ciliated, club and Goblet cells in lung cancer patients, different from other lung diseases. LysoPC inhibited lung cancer cell proliferation, by inducing mitochondrial dysfunction, altering lipid metabolisms, increasing fatty acid oxidation and reprograming ACSL5/phosphoinositide 3-kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase-regulated triacylglycerol-lysoPC balance. Thus, this study provides a general new basis for the discovery of reprogramming metabolisms and metabolites as a new strategy of lung cancer precision medicine.

Keywords:  ACSL5; LysoPC; lipid metabolisms; lung cancer; transcriptomics

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.1180
Cell Stem Cell. 2023 Jan 05. pii: S1934-5909(22)00490-8. [Epub ahead of print]30(1): 52-68.e13

METTL16 drives leukemogenesis and leukemia stem cell self-renewal by reprogramming BCAA metabolism.

Li Han, Lei Dong, Keith Leung, Zhicong Zhao, Yangchan Li, Lei Gao, Zhenhua Chen, Jianhuang Xue, Ying Qing, Wei Li, Sheela Pangeni Pokharel, Min Gao, Meiling Chen, Chao Shen, Brandon Tan, Andrew Small, Kitty Wang, Zheng Zhang, Xi Qin, Lu Yang, Mark Wunderlich, Bin Zhang, James C Mulloy, Guido Marcucci, Chun-Wei Chen, Minjie Wei, Rui Su, Jianjun Chen, Xiaolan Deng.

  N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most prevalent internal modification in mammalian mRNAs, is involved in many pathological processes. METTL16 is a recently identified m6A methyltransferase. However, its role in leukemia has yet to be investigated. Here, we show that METTL16 is a highly essential gene for the survival of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells via CRISPR-Cas9 screening and experimental validation. METTL16 is aberrantly overexpressed in human AML cells, especially in leukemia stem cells (LSCs) and leukemia-initiating cells (LICs). Genetic depletion of METTL16 dramatically suppresses AML initiation/development and maintenance and significantly attenuates LSC/LIC self-renewal, while moderately influencing normal hematopoiesis in mice. Mechanistically, METTL16 exerts its oncogenic role by promoting expression of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) transaminase 1 (BCAT1) and BCAT2 in an m6A-dependent manner and reprogramming BCAA metabolism in AML. Collectively, our results characterize the METTL16/m6A/BCAT1-2/BCAA axis in leukemogenesis and highlight the essential role of METTL16-mediated m6A epitranscriptome and BCAA metabolism reprograming in leukemogenesis and LSC/LIC maintenance.

Keywords:  AML; BCAA metabolism; BCAT1; BCAT2; LSCs/LICs; METTL16; leukemia stem cells; leukemia-initiating cells; m6A modification; self-renewal

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2022.12.006
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Dec 22. pii: 61. [Epub ahead of print]15(1):

Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Diversity Shapes Tumor Metabolism in Pancreatic Cancer.

Raphaël Peiffer, Yasmine Boumahd, Charlotte Gullo, Rebekah Crake, Elisabeth Letellier, Akeila Bellahcène, Olivier Peulen.

  Despite extensive research, the 5-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer (PDAC) patients remains at only 9%. Patients often show poor treatment response, due partly to a highly complex tumor microenvironment (TME). Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) heterogeneity is characteristic of the pancreatic TME, where several CAF subpopulations have been identified, such as myofibroblastic CAFs (myCAFs), inflammatory CAFs (iCAFs), and antigen presenting CAFs (apCAFs). In PDAC, cancer cells continuously adapt their metabolism (metabolic switch) to environmental changes in pH, oxygenation, and nutrient availability. Recent advances show that these environmental alterations are all heavily driven by stromal CAFs. CAFs and cancer cells exchange cytokines and metabolites, engaging in a tight bidirectional crosstalk, which promotes tumor aggressiveness and allows constant adaptation to external stress, such as chemotherapy. In this review, we summarize CAF diversity and CAF-mediated metabolic rewiring, in a PDAC-specific context. First, we recapitulate the most recently identified CAF subtypes, focusing on the cell of origin, activation mechanism, species-dependent markers, and functions. Next, we describe in detail the metabolic crosstalk between CAFs and tumor cells. Additionally, we elucidate how CAF-driven paracrine signaling, desmoplasia, and acidosis orchestrate cancer cell metabolism. Finally, we highlight how the CAF/cancer cell crosstalk could pave the way for new therapeutic strategies.

Keywords:  CAF; PDAC; acidosis; cancer-associated fibroblast; desmoplasia; hypoxia; metabolism; pancreatic cancer; paracrine signaling

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15010061
Cell. 2023 Jan 05. pii: S0092-8674(22)01520-3. [Epub ahead of print]186(1): 63-79.e21

Cell-cell metabolite exchange creates a pro-survival metabolic environment that extends lifespan.

Clara Correia-Melo, Stephan Kamrad, Roland Tengölics, Christoph B Messner, Pauline Trebulle, StJohn Townsend, Sreejith Jayasree Varma, Anja Freiwald, Benjamin M Heineike, Kate Campbell, Lucía Herrera-Dominguez, Simran Kaur Aulakh, Lukasz Szyrwiel, Jason S L Yu, Aleksej Zelezniak, Vadim Demichev, Michael Mülleder, Balázs Papp, Mohammad Tauqeer Alam, Markus Ralser.

  Metabolism is deeply intertwined with aging. Effects of metabolic interventions on aging have been explained with intracellular metabolism, growth control, and signaling. Studying chronological aging in yeast, we reveal a so far overlooked metabolic property that influences aging via the exchange of metabolites. We observed that metabolites exported by young cells are re-imported by chronologically aging cells, resulting in cross-generational metabolic interactions. Then, we used self-establishing metabolically cooperating communities (SeMeCo) as a tool to increase metabolite exchange and observed significant lifespan extensions. The longevity of the SeMeCo was attributable to metabolic reconfigurations in methionine consumer cells. These obtained a more glycolytic metabolism and increased the export of protective metabolites that in turn extended the lifespan of cells that supplied them with methionine. Our results establish metabolite exchange interactions as a determinant of cellular aging and show that metabolically cooperating cells can shape the metabolic environment to extend their lifespan.

Keywords:  chronological aging; eukaryotic longevity; metabolic microenvironment; metabolite exchange interactions

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.12.007
Aging (Albany NY). 2023 Jan 09. 15

Increased expression of GPX4 promotes the tumorigenesis of thyroid cancer by inhibiting ferroptosis and predicts poor clinical outcomes.

Huanjie Chen, Fang Peng, Jingchao Xu, Guangzhi Wang, Yongfu Zhao.

   BACKGROUND: Ferroptosis plays a critical role in suppressing cancer progression, and its essential regulator is glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). High GPX4 expression can inhibit accumulation of iron, thus suppressing ferroptosis. However, its function in thyroid cancer has not been fully illuminated. Here, we explore the effect of GPX4 on thyroid cancer tumorigenesis and prognosis.
METHODS: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, GPX4 expression was investigated in cancer tissues and adjacent tissues. We determined the biological functions of GPX4-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by using the "clusterProfiler" R package. In addition, the predictive value of GPX4 in thyroid cancer was assessed by using Cox regression analysis and nomograms. Finally, we conducted several in vitro experiments to determine the influence of GPX4 expression on proliferation and ferroptosis in thyroid cancer cells.
RESULTS: GPX4 expression was obviously elevated in thyroid cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. Biological function analysis indicated enrichment in muscle contraction, contractile fiber, metal ion transmembrane transporter activity, and complement and coagulation cascades. GPX4 overexpression was associated with stage T3-T4 and pathologic stage III-IV in thyroid cancer patients. Cox regression analysis indicated that GPX4 may be a risk factor for the overall survival of thyroid cancer patients. In vitro research showed that knockdown of GPX4 suppressed proliferation and induced ferroptosis in thyroid cancer cells.
CONCLUSIONS: GPX4 overexpression in thyroid cancer might play an essential role in tumorigenesis and may have prognostic value for thyroid cancer patients.

Keywords:  GPX4; clinicopathological features; ferroptosis; prognostic biomarker; thyroid cancer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204473