Nature Metabolism
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Preprints posted in the last 90 days, ranked by how well they match Nature Metabolism's content profile, based on 69 papers previously published here. The average preprint has a 0.09% match score for this journal, so anything above that is already an above-average fit.
Fulghum, K.; Hayir, A.; Ankeriasniemi, R.; Shaddy-Gouvion, C.; Vang, C. M.; Salathe, S. F.; Queathem, E. D.; Hughey, C. C.; Haeri, M.; Thyfault, J. P.; Puchalska, P.; Crawford, P. A.
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Alzheimers disease and related tauopathies are escalating public health threats, particularly in the context of obesity and metabolic dysfunction, which accelerate cerebral glucose hypometabolism, tau pathology, neurodegeneration, and cognitive decline. Ketogenic therapies reconfigure systemic fuel metabolism, with emerging evidence for neuroprotection. (R,S)-1,3-butanediol (BD) raises circulating D- and L-{beta}-hydroxybutyrate ({beta}OHB) concentrations. To evaluate whether BD improves cognitive function across dietary contexts, male and female tau-transgenic mice and littermate controls received 10% BD in drinking water for 20 or 30 weeks starting at 6 weeks of age. BD rapidly induced ketosis (1.5-3.0 mM {beta}OHB) in chow-fed mice, with L-{beta}OHB contributing to [~]75% of the circulating {beta}OHB pool. Despite minimal effects of BD on body weight and glucose homeostasis, and no effect on histopathological tau signal, 20-week BD treatment improved memory to control levels in chow-fed female tauopathy mice. Isotope-tracing untargeted metabolomics revealed that BD-treatment differentially affected glucose-derived 13C-enrichment of metabolites in brains of male and female mice. BD-induced cognitive benefits in tau-transgenic mice were abrogated when mice were maintained on BD for 30 weeks on standard chow or when mice were administered BD over 20 weeks while maintained on a high-fat, Western diet, Notably, BD-induced ketosis was blunted in mice consuming Western diet. Moreover, intermittent ketogenic diet-induced ketosis failed to improve cognition in Western diet-fed tauopathy mice. These results suggest BD-induced ketosis extends cognitive benefits in a manner dependent on biological sex and nutritional metabolic status. Taken together, these data contextualize the roles of {beta}OHB as modulators of cognitive resilience in tauopathy.
Cho, C. H.; Jang, Y.; Warnock, A.; Yildiz, R.; Jhang, J.; Davi, K.; Brisnovali, N. F.; Huhn, V.; Wang, P.; Bevaqua, R.; Goedeke, L.; Schotsaert, M. A.; Berisa, M.; Puleston, D.; Rajbhandari, P.
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Coordination between innate immune signaling and glucose metabolism is fundamental to organismal homeostasis, yet despite decades of study linking immunity and metabolism, the mechanisms by which metabolic cells restrain antiviral innate signaling while preserving glycolytic competence during overnutrition remain poorly defined. Here we identify Tetherin (BST2) as a unique cell-intrinsic immunometabolic checkpoint that couples restraint of type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling to preservation of glycolytic capacity in adipocytes. Tetherin localizes to endoplasmic reticulum and organizes an interactome enriched for antiviral sensing regulators and glycolytic control nodes in adipocytes. Mechanistically, Tetherin directly engages the ubiquitin-dependent degradation machinery NDFIP1 and RNF128 to terminate IRF3 activation, thereby limiting pro-inflammatory, anti-glycolytic signaling and protecting adipocytes from metabolic dysfunction. In parallel, multiomics integration reveals that Tetherin also acts as a scaffold that binds and spatially organizes and activates PFKFB3 to increase glycolytic capacity and restrain MAVS-IRF3 innate immune signalling. In vivo, adipocyte-specific loss of Tetherin amplifies high sucrose diet and high-fat-diet-induced glucose intolerance and liver steatosis, whereas overexpression of human Tetherin in adipocyte suppresses obesity-driven interferon signaling, restores glycolytic pathway, and improves metabolic homeostasis. Orthogonal perturbations in cancer and insulinoma cells further confirm an immunometabolic role for Tetherin. Together, these findings define Tetherin as a dual node immunometabolic checkpoint that couples restraint of antiviral innate inflammatory signaling to maintenance of glycolytic competence, thereby safeguarding adipocyte metabolic homeostasis.
Ozturk, S. S.; Pradhan, S.; Lackman, M. H.; Panda, L. R.; Zhaivoron, A.; Innila, M.; Patricio, J. S.; Zacharias, L.; Mathews, T.; Karaman, S.; Khan, N. A.
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Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a mitochondria-rich thermogenic organ whose function depends on high oxidative capacity, yet how primary mitochondrial dysfunction remodels BAT identity and metabolism remains poorly defined. Using the Deletor mouse model of progressive mtDNA deletion disease, we identify a pseudohypoxiairon-NAD+ axis as a central organiser of BAT pathology. Deletor BAT underwent profound structural, transcriptional and metabolic remodelling, characterised by mitochondrial ultrastructural damage, loss of thermogenic identity, PHD3/HIF associated pseudohypoxic signalling, iron dysregulation and NAD+/NADH redox imbalance. Indirect calorimetry confirmed that this molecular disease program translates to functional thermogenic failure under physiological demand. Deletor mice showed significantly reduced heat production under acute cold challenge and failed to switch to fatty acid oxidation Metabolomic profiling revealed altered TCA cycle intermediates, glycolytic rewiring and selective amino acid accumulation. Pharmacological perturbation showed that the PHD inhibitor roxadustat worsened disease-associated features, whereas HIF-1 suppression with PX-478 attenuated the integrated stress response, indicating that pseudohypoxic signalling is maladaptive in this setting. Nicotinamide riboside broadly attenuated the disease metabolome and transcriptome, restoring NAD+/NADH balance, suppressing ISRmt, iron-stress and pseudohypoxic gene programs, and correcting selective carnitine and acylcarnitine abnormalities consistent with impaired fatty-acid handling. These findings define a therapeutically tractable pseudohypoxia-iron-NAD+ axis as a core determinant of BAT dysfunction in mitochondrial disease.
Vigder, N.; Chandra, A.; Shrimali, N.; Tumanov, S.; Elgart, V.; He, H.; Mulhern, R.; Chakrabarty, R. P.; Chandel, N. S.; Cordwell, S. J.; Gygi, S.; Paulo, J. A.; Loscalzo, J.
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The role of 2-hydroxyglutarate in lipid metabolism is currently unknown. Here we show that 2HG redistributes the partitioning of fatty acids into triglyceride storage and away from membrane phospholipid synthesis, mitochondrial oxidation, and lipotoxic intermediates. In primary human cardiac and vascular cells, both enantiomers, D2HG and L2HG, expanded triglyceride stores and lipid droplets while selectively depleting phosphatidylethanolamine, with L2HG acting more potently than D2HG despite lower intracellular accumulation. Mechanistically, L2HG increases DGAT-dependent triglyceride synthesis, slows triglyceride turnover, and constrains the ethanolamine branch of the Kennedy pathway. This response limits fatty acid oxidation, long-chain acylcarnitine accumulation, and lipid peroxidation independently of pseudohypoxic transcription or canonical lipid storage regulators, while also remodeling the phosphoproteome and redox proteome. L2HG accumulation induces hypertriglyceridemia in mice, redistributes the acyl chain composition of cardiac triglycerides, and limits ischemia-induced acylcarnitine accumulation in the heart, mirroring a positive association between circulating 2HG and triglycerides in humans. Thus, 2HG expands metabolic flexibility from whether fatty acids are used as fuel to how that fuel is allocated among storage, membrane synthesis, and oxidation.
Palluth, L.; Laothamatas, I.; Nguyen, T.-N.; Rasmussen, E. S.; Zacharias, L. G.; Velasquez, M. J.; Inigo-Vollmer, M.; Fu, X.; Mathews, T. P.; McDonald, J. G.; Burgess, S. C.; Takahashi, J. S.; Green, C. B.
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Circadian rhythms are conserved biological timekeeping mechanisms crucial for the temporal compartmentalization of metabolic processes. However, the molecular pathways by which circadian rhythms are regulated within metabolism are not fully understood. Nocturnin (NOCT) is a highly rhythmic, clock-controlled NADP(H) phosphatase that has been implicated in numerous metabolic phenotypes. While it is known that NOCT significantly impacts the cellular NADP(H) and NAD(H) pools in vitro, NOCTs impact on their concentrations and rhythmicity in vivo has not yet been established. In fact, the rhythmicity of NADH, NADP+, and NADPH have yet to be quantified in mammalian nucleated cells. Here, we determined both the whole cell and mitochondrial NAD(H) and NADP(H) rhythms in wild-type and Noct-/-mouse livers. Unexpectedly, we found a robust rhythm in the mitochondrial NADP(H)/NAD(H) ratio that is antiphase to the respective whole cell rhythm. While loss of NOCT increases the amplitude of the whole cell NADP(H)/NAD(H) rhythm, the mitochondrial rhythm is completely damped in Noct-/-mice. The constitutively higher relative NADP(H) within Noct-/-mitochondria drives steroidogenesis, leading to an increased amplitude of plasma corticosterone. Both the acute increase in plasma corticosterone and the disruption of mitochondrial cofactor rhythms caused by loss of NOCT lead to widespread changes in hepatic metabolism. Collectively, we found that NOCTs control of mitochondrial NADP(H)/NAD(H) rhythms is a novel regulator of steroid amplitude and downstream metabolic rhythms.
Ravikumar, S.;Wolfe, A.;Colon-Ramos, D.
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Genetically encoded biosensors have transformed the study of metabolism, yet measurements of individual metabolites often provide an incomplete view of pathway regulation. Here, we develop a multisensor framework in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons to interpret glycolytic dynamics and redox state in vivo. We combine biosensors for NADH/NAD, fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, lactate, and pyruvate to resolve metabolic responses during hypoxia and redox perturbation. To causally test how redox state modulates glycolysis in vivo, we cell-specifically expressed the NADH-producing enzyme EcSTH and the NADH oxidase LbNOX to bidirectionally tune neuronal NADH/NAD balance. These perturbations revealed that redox modulation is sufficient to constrain or relieve lower glycolytic activity. Elevation of NADH/NAD promoted accumulation of upper glycolytic intermediates while suppressing lower glycolytic responses during energetic stress, consistent with inhibition at the NAD-dependent GAPDH step. Conversely, oxidation of NADH relieved this constraint and shifted metabolite pools consistent with enhanced lower glycolytic activity. Elevated NADH/NAD ratios also impaired synaptic vesicle organization, linking redox-mediated glycolytic inhibition to neuronal function. As a case study for how integrated biosensor approaches can provide semi-quantitative insight into pathway-level metabolic regulation, we genetically perturbed endogenous NADH recycling pathways. These experiments revealed a hierarchical organization of neuronal redox buffering, with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH-1) serving as the dominant route for NAD regeneration during hypoxia and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH-2) providing a secondary compensatory pathway. Graded impairment of NADH recycling resulted in corresponding increases in fructose-1,6-bisphosphate accumulation and synaptic defects, consistent with progressive inhibition of lower glycolysis. Together, these results establish a tractable in vivo system to probe causal relationships between redox state, glycolytic dynamics, and cellular physiology.
Reynolds, M. B.; Bond, A.; Fennell, E. M. J.; Grae, K. J.; Joulia, E.; Donnelly, M. P.; Johnson, M. A.; Laguerre, A.; Rojas, G. R.; Kolar, M. J.; Ayres, J. S.; Metallo, C. M.; Shadel, G. S.
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Macrophages clear excess host and microbial debris to restore homeostasis in inflamed tissues, yet the regulation and molecular fate of phagocytosed lipids during innate immune training remains largely unexplored. Leveraging stable isotope tracing of 13C-labeled bacteria, we establish an experimental framework to track microbe-to-host lipid transfer and define the fates of microbial lipids in macrophages in vitro and in vivo. While naive macrophages scavenge phagocytosed bacterial fatty acids into the host lipidome, TLR4-trained macrophages direct flux to mitochondria for {beta}-oxidation or lipid droplets in the context of mitochondrial dysfunction. While TLR4 signaling increases ACOD1 expression to produce itaconate that throttles TCA flux, trained macrophages produce IL-10 that reduces ACOD1 to sustain bacterial lipid disposal and promote resolution. These findings reveal an IL-10/ACOD1 regulatory axis in trained macrophages that reprograms lipid metabolism to optimally reestablish tissue homeostasis post-inflammation.
Pister, V.; Tatarova, Z.; Park, N.; Gaidhani, G.; Jakubik, J.; Heiser, L.; Blum, J.; Palmiotti, A.; Maloney, E.; Fraenkel, E.; Davidson, S.; Jonas, O.
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How drug treatments reshape immune and metabolic states within intact tumors remains difficult to study with existing methods. We introduce a spatial pharmacology platform that enables parallel analysis of multiple agents within a single tumor, linking local drug exposure to immune and metabolic remodeling. Using a microdevice for localized drug delivery, we created a large-scale paired CyCIF-MALDI dataset spanning 1.5 million cells across 27 MMTV-PyMT tumor sections and nine treatment programs, enabling integrated spatial pharmacology at unprecedented scale. Metabolic signatures robustly predict proteomic spatial neighborhoods establishing metabolism as a powerful predictor of tumor organization and immune phenotype. Within this framework, we identify a dominant metabolic axis defined by the myeloid polarization between CSF1R+ tumor-associated macrophages and MPO+ infiltrating myeloid cells localized near regions of drug-induced tumor cell death. Finally, we detect putative lipid-associated macrophage (LAM)-like populations within drug-resistant treatment regions.
Schornack, A. M. R.; Rodgers, T. J.; Shou, M.; Siv, W. A.; Yin, L.; Sellick, K.; Chigurupati, V.; Debo, J.; Saraf, S.; Nickles, P. G.; Park, S.; Gibson, S. E.; Shankar, N.; Dobson, J. R.; Behara, S.; Stanley, J. E.; Ehara, A.; Wimalarathne, M.; Crabtree, A.; Reuter, A.; Attie, A. D.; Zaganjor, E.; Coate, K. C.; Li, Y.; Rathmell, J. C.; Keller, M. P.; Jacobson, D. A.; Chen, W.; Dean, E. D.
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The liver- cell axis is a finely tuned biological rheostat that regulates whole body amino acid availability. Pancreatic cells secrete glucagon that regulates amino acid catabolism through gluconeogenesis and ureagenesis, yet the mechanisms linking amino acid levels to cell growth and function are not fully understood. Here, we identify glutaminase, the enzyme that catalyzes glutamine catabolism, as a critical cell regulator. Glutaminase is highly enriched in cells across species. cell expression of glutaminase is required for nutrient-dependent mTORC1 activation, suppression of AMPK signaling, and sustained expression of the glutamine transporter SLC38A5. This establishes a feed-forward loop linking glutamine metabolism to amino acid sensing and growth. Reduced glutaminase activity impairs dynamic glucagon secretion in response to low glucose and amino acids. Together, these findings highlight the importance of glutamine metabolism in cell growth and hormone secretion and suggest it may play a role in cell adaptation to hyperaminoacidemia.
Morales, P. E.; Tong, W.; Vishvanath, L.; Leander, D. C.; Wade, T. E.; Hallaron, D. S.; El, K.; Hollander, R. A.; Truong, A.; Wothe, D.; Elmquist, G.; Russo, M.; Hamilos, H. K.; Dewyer, G. E.; Crewe, C.; Holland, W. L.; Koves, T. R.; Muoio, D. M.; D'Alessio, D. A.; Campbell, J. E.; Cannavino, J.; Shao, M.; Gupta, R. K.
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Pathologic white adipose tissue (WAT) remodeling, characterized by fibrosis, inflammation, and adipocyte dysfunction, is a hallmark and driver of metabolic disease in obesity1. Here, we show that legacy effects of early physiological or pharmacological interventions driving adaptive adipose remodeling can mitigate maladaptive WAT remodeling and metabolic dysfunction when developing obesity later in life. Cold exposure or beta3-adrenergic receptor (beta3AR) agonism (CL316,243) induced thermogenic remodeling of WAT in male mice. After a prolonged recovery at room temperature, trained epididymal WAT reverted to an energy-storing state but retained a population of adipocytes resembling metabolically flexible visceral adipocytes found in human metabolically healthy obesity. The legacy of the antecedent treatment conferred lasting protection against glucose intolerance when later developing high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, with insulin sensitivity persisting for at least 20 weeks of overnutrition. This metabolic resilience was accompanied by healthy epididymal WAT expansion with reduced fibrosis and inflammation. Our findings demonstrate that short-term interventions, without genetic manipulation, can train adipose tissue, enhancing its long-term plasticity and conferring durable protection against future obesity-associated insulin resistance.
Xiang, X.; Ambaw, Y. A.; Tok, O.; Hui, S.; Tang, W.-c.; Mizrak, A.; Zhang, Q.; Cohen-Abeles, L.; Farese, R. C.; Walther, T. C.
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Excess fatty acids can disrupt membrane and organelle function. Cells buffer fatty acid toxicity by synthesizing and storing triglycerides (TGs) in lipid droplets, but their capacity for TG storage is limited. Here, using hepatocytes with impaired TG synthesis, we identified adaptive pathways that restore homeostasis during lipid overload. One arm of the response is transcriptional activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors to promote fatty acid oxidation. The other suppresses sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1)-mediated lipogenesis, reducing fatty acid synthesis and desaturation. Mechanistically, SREBP1 cleavage-activation occurs with changes in membrane fluidity: impaired TG synthesis increased membrane fluidity and suppressed SREBP1 activation, whereas saturated fatty acids exerted opposite effects. These findings reveal feedback regulation that maintains fatty acid homeostasis by coordinating their synthesis and oxidation. They also support a model in which ER membrane fluidity regulates SREBP1 activity to maintain membrane lipid homeostasis, a finding with broad implications for physiology and disease. HighlightsO_LIImpaired triglyceride synthesis induces feedback regulation of fatty acid metabolism to restore fatty acid homeostasis. C_LIO_LIHomeostasis is restored via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor transcriptional activity to enhance fatty acid oxidation. C_LIO_LIReduced lipogenesis occurs by suppression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1)-mediated fatty acid synthesis and desaturation. C_LIO_LIChanges in ER membrane fluidity regulate SREBP1 activity to maintain membrane lipid homeostasis. C_LI
Garcia-Rodriguez, D.; Yunta-Sanchez, S.; Antequera-Duwel, M.; Hidalgo-Lopez, L.; Agulla, J.; Sancha-Ortega, L.; Lapresa, R.; Fernandez, E.; Martinez-Gallego, I.; Sanchez-Gallego, A.; Fernandez-Garcia, J.; Plaza-Garcia, S.; Keren, I.; Chattopadhyay, M.; Eaton, S.; Heales, S. J. R.; Rodriguez-Moreno, A.; Planque, M.; Fendt, S.-M.; Ramos-Cabrer, P.; Aldana, B. I.; Almeida, A.; Jimenez-Blasco, D.; Bolanos, J. P.
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Astrocytes are glycolytic cells that convert a substantial fraction of glucose-derived pyruvate into lactate, a metabolite implicated in supporting neuronal energy demand and modulating excitability, plasticity and memory. This view has placed astrocytic lactate production and export at the centre of astrocyte-neuron metabolic coupling, but whether mitochondrial pyruvate utilization in astrocytes is dispensable in vivo or fulfils an essential function in the intact brain remains unknown. Here we show that adult astrocyte-specific deletion of Mpc2, encoding an obligatory mitochondrial pyruvate carrier subunit, causes motor deficits, neuronal hyperexcitability and seizure-associated lethality. Metabolic profiling revealed pyruvate diversion toward alanine as an unsuccessful compensatory bypass, together with impaired tricarboxylic acid-cycle metabolism and an imbalance in neurotransmitter-related pools, including glutamate, glutamine and {gamma}-aminobutyric acid. Thus, astrocytic mitochondrial pyruvate import is not primarily required for bioenergetic purposes but acts as a non-redundant anaplerotic gate that maintains neurotransmitter homeostasis, excitation-inhibition balance and seizure resistance in vivo.
Hankeova, S.; Hayne, M.; Verhagen, M. P.; Farber, G.; Dourado, M.; Sangaraju, D.; Lee, K.; Krishnamoorthy, P.; Peralta, R.; Seidel, K.; Barck, K.; Shelton, A.; Sadek, M.; Chan, P.; ElSohly, A.; Hackos, D.; Siebel, C.; Hoogenraad, C.; Mosteiro, L.
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The central mechanisms through which glial cells regulate whole-body metabolism remain poorly understood. Here, we identify Notch signaling in hypothalamic oligodendrocyte lineage cells as a previously unrecognized regulator of systemic energy homeostasis. Pharmacological inhibition of the Notch ligands Jagged1 (Jag1) and Jagged2 (Jag2) induces rapid and reversible weight loss across diverse physiological and metabolic contexts independently of toxicity or caloric intake. Single-nucleus transcriptomic analyses identify hypothalamic oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) as the principal Notch-responsive population following systemic Jag1/2 inhibition and reveal expansion of a metabolically specialized GPR17 intermediate state characterized by enhanced oxidative metabolism and increased predicted communication with hypothalamic neurons. This glial remodeling is accompanied by fasting-like transcriptional reprogramming of AgRP neurons, reorganization of melanocortin-autonomic circuit activity, and activation of peripheral catabolic programs. Importantly, selective deletion of Notch1/2 in hypothalamic OPCs recapitulates the major physiological and metabolic effects of systemic Jag1/2 inhibition, establishing oligodendrocyte Notch signaling as a causal regulator of whole-body metabolism. Together, our findings establish Notch-dependent oligodendrocyte state transitions as a previously unrecognized mechanism linking glial plasticity to systemic energy homeostasis.
Deshpande, A.;Napoli, M.;Lockhart, J.;Li, X.;Liu, M.;Darville, L.;Fang, B.;Koomen, J.;Flores, E.
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Metabolic reprogramming is a crucial hallmark of cancer, supporting tumor growth and adaptation to cellular stress. Although fatty acid oxidation (FAO) has emerged as an important regulator in cancer, the mechanisms that control the FAO machinery remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the TAp63-regulated long non-coding RNA TROLL-8 is a key regulator of FAO in breast cancer. Using metabolomics and protein microarray assays followed by immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry, we mechanistically demonstrate that TROLL-8 binds the FAO enzyme CPT1A and promotes the formation of a complex with ACSL1 and VDAC1, thereby enabling efficient fatty acid processing. Loss of TROLL-8 destabilizes this complex, leading to impaired FAO, decreased metabolic fitness, and suppression of tumorigenic phenotypes, such as anchorage-independent growth. Notably, higher levels of CPT1A and VDAC1 are associated with worse survival in breast cancer patients. Given the emerging role of CPT1A in therapy resistance, these findings suggest that targeting TROLL-8 could be a promising approach to selectively disrupt the hyperactive FAO machinery in breast cancers and other tumor types that rely on FAO for their progression.
Gabal, E.; Nguyen, T. K. O.; Kovalenko, T.; Gao, H.; Rappaport, N.; Funk, C. C.; Baloni, P.; Trushina, E.
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Mitochondrial dysfunction and lipid dysregulation are among the earliest abnormalities in Alzheimers disease (AD), yet their mechanistic interplay and therapeutic potential remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated whether restoration of mitochondrial function can reverse metabolic dysfunction and promote resilience in advanced-stage AD. Female APP/PS1 mice were treated with the brain-penetrant mitochondrial complex I (mtCI) modulator CP2 beginning at 19 months of age, when pathology and cognitive deficits were well established. To define the metabolic mechanisms underlying therapeutic response, we developed iMiceBrain, the first brain-specific genome-scale metabolic model of the mouse brain, and integrated transcriptomics, targeted metabolomics, lipidomics, and metabolic network analyses. CP2 treatment broadly reprogrammed AD-associated molecular signatures and restored pathways involved in mitochondrial function, glucose utilization, lipid metabolism, synaptic activity, and cellular stress responses. Metabolic modeling identified enhanced mitochondrial substrate flexibility, activation of fatty acid utilization, restoration of pyruvate dehydrogenase flux, and normalization of cholesterol metabolism as key features of the therapeutic response. Lipidomic analyses further demonstrated correction of disease-associated alterations in cholesteryl esters, phospholipids, and sphingolipids. Together, these findings demonstrate that mild mtCI modulation restores metabolic resilience by coordinating mitochondrial and lipid metabolism, establishing it as a disease-modifying therapeutic strategy for AD.
Milosevic, M.; Dmytruk, K.; Alghadi, A.; Jakoube, P.; Wong Soon, J.; Hyrossova, P.; Bin Munim, M.; Fernandes, S. I.; Shevzov-Zebrun, A.; Stanko, R.; Mitric, I.; Cockova, Z.; Kucera, L.; Fernandez-Garcia, J.; Benda, A.; Marzullo, B.; Sedlacek, R.; Neuzil, J.; Fendt, S.-M.; Tennant, D. A.; Vander Heiden, M. G.; Rohlenova, K.; Rohlena, J.
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Cytosolic redox balance is tightly coupled to aspartate synthesis through the malate-aspartate shuttle, and limiting the malate-aspartate shuttle has been proposed to constrain tumor growth by restricting aspartate availability. Here we show that tumors derived from cancer cells lacking GOT1 and GOT2, the cytosolic and mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferases essential for as-partate production and malate-aspartate shuttle function, grow despite impaired canonical as-partate synthesis. This is because cytosolic redox state, not aspartate supply, is the primary metabolic bottleneck in GOT1/GOT2 knockout cells. Using single-cell transcriptomics, metabo-lite tracing, and a loss-of-function CRISPR screen, we find that these tumors engage an adaptive bypass in which availability of asparagine, a product of aspartate, enables serine- and methio-nine-dependent transsulfuration to generate -ketobutyrate, whose reduction regenerates cy-tosolic NAD and restores redox homeostasis. Pharmacological inhibition or genetic ablation of transsulfuration abrogates this asparagine-driven rescue. These findings define asparagine as a regulator of cytosolic NAD/NADH balance and reveal a link between amino acid metabolism and redox control that suggests transsulfuration as a targetable vulnerability in tumor redox maintenance. Significance statementAspartate synthesis and cytosolic redox balance are both coupled through the malate-aspartate shuttle. We show that the cytosolic NAD/NADH ratio, not aspartate supply, is a critical output of the malate-aspartate shuttle for tumor growth. Availability of asparagine, a product of aspar-tate, enables serine- and methionine-dependent transsulfuration to restore cytosolic NAD/NADH balance, proliferation and tumor growth independently of canonical aspartate pro-duction by the malate-aspartate shuttle. This defines asparagine as a regulator of cytosolic re-dox and identifies transsulfuration as a targetable vulnerability in tumor redox maintenance.
Mihalas, B. P.; Lin, D.; Bustamante, S.; Pickford, R.; Frost, E. R.; Vuyyuru, A.; Wong, D. Y.; Bertoldo, M. J.; Wu, L. E.; Gilchrist, R. B.
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The age-related decline in oocyte nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is associated with reduced developmental potential and female infertility. Despite the extraordinary longevity of the female germline, the mechanism for maintaining oocyte NAD remains unresolved. Here, we used stable isotope tracing to identify a new mechanism for shared, intercellular NAD biosynthesis, whereby somatic-germline metabolic coupling between the oocyte and its surrounding cumulus cells is critical to maintain oocyte NAD homeostasis. We show that this coupling deteriorates with reproductive aging, identifying altered NAD metabolism in cumulus cells from mice and women of advancing reproductive age. This cumulus-oocyte metabolic coupling of NAD biosynthesis contributes to protection against the age-related increases in oocyte reactive oxygen species (ROS). In intact complexes, restoring NAD through supplementation with the precursor nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) increased glutathione, reduced ROS and improved mitochondrial membrane potential in oocytes from aged mice and in oocytes exposed to oxidative insult. Importantly, the ability of NMN to resolve elevated ROS depends on the presence of cumulus cells. Together, this new model of somatic-germline metabolic coupling of NAD biosynthesis places an age-related deterioration in cumulus cell-mediated metabolic support as a key driver of impaired oocyte NAD levels and redox dysregulation with aging.
Echeverria, C. E.; Ahmed, M.; Gao, J.; Stewart, S. L.; Nathoo, I.; Debarba, L. K.; Lafourcade, C. A.; Ahmed, T.; Shamieva, O.; Perrier, T.; Prakashmurthy, C.; Escamilla, A.; Moon, P.; Kim, J.; Zwick, R.; Cantley, L. C.; Cohen, D. E.; Goncalves, M. D.
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High-fat, high-sucrose (HFHS) diets are established risk factors for obesity. In the intestine, sucrose is hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose, with fructose being taken up by epithelial cells and phosphorylated by ketohexokinase (KHK). We hypothesized that KHK is required for the obesogenic effects of HFHS diets and performed genetic and pharmacologic experiments in mice using diet-induced obesity (DIO) models. We show that genetic loss of KHK prevents HFHS-induced weight gain and intestinal villus elongation. Moreover, pharmacologic inhibition of KHK (KHKi) promotes weight and fat loss during continued HFHS feeding in DIO mice and enhances weight loss and weight maintenance during and after incretin-mimetic therapy. The anti-obesogenic effects of KHKi were associated with delayed intestinal lipid absorption, reprogramming of lipid metabolism in the distal intestinal epithelium, and reduced absorption of unsaturated dietary fats. Together, these findings identify fructose metabolism as a key regulator of intestinal lipid handling and suggest that fructose promotes obesity, in part, by enhancing intestinal lipid absorption and metabolism.
Wang, X.; Lee, H.; Le, A.; Turhan, B.; Hu, N.; Garcia, P. S.; Cao, X.; Liu, D.; Ali, T. A.; Zhang, N.; Williams, B.; Lareau, C. A.; Wang, G.; Huangfu, D.; Dey, K. K.
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Type 2 diabetes (T2D) arises from genetic susceptibility and chronic metabolic stress, but whether these converge on shared molecular programs in human populations remains unclear. Here, we develop a dish-to-biobank framework linking controlled {beta}-cell perturbation to population-scale disease genetics through the circulating plasma proteome, and apply it to T2D. scRNA-seq of human stem cell-derived islets under factorial glucose and palmitate exposure identifies their combination (glucolipotoxicity) as the condition eliciting the strongest SC-{beta} cell transcriptional response, with glucolipotoxicity-upregulated genes uniquely enriched for T2D heritability, monogenic diabetes genes, and rare-variant burden signals. CRISPR knockout of {beta}-cell identity regulators PAX6 and PDX1 aligns with this program, establishing convergence of environmental and genetic perturbations on a shared disease-relevant state. We then used the plasma proteome as an accessible population-scale readout of these experimentally defined {beta}-cell stress programs, scoring 45,956 UK Biobank White British participants. We define heritable stress signatures that associate with refined carbohydrate and saturated fat intake, and undergo trans-tissue genetic regulation, with a subset of variants showing diet-dependent effects. Together, these findings establish glucolipotoxicity as a genetically anchored model of {beta}-cell dysfunction and provide a generalizable framework for linking controlled cellular perturbations to human disease genetics at population scale.
Jiang, Y.; Yu, W.; Wang, Y.; Thadi, A.; Pedersen, S.; Eagles, J.; Naranjo, A.; Collins, N.; DuBois, S. G.; Bagatell, R.; Crompton, B. D.; Tan, K.; Pugh, T. J.
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High-risk neuroblastoma (HRNB) is a leading cause of pediatric cancer death. Current therapies center on intensive multimodal treatment including anti-GD2 therapy, with growing interest in harnessing T cell-mediated immunity. How T cells and their receptors (T-cell receptors, TCRs) are spatially organized and function within tumors remains poorly defined. To assess whether intratumoral location influences clonotype-specific T cell states, we profiled TCR repertoires across blood and tumor samples from 37 patients with HRNB using longitudinal bulk TCR sequencing. In a nested subset of 5 patients with paired pre- and post-therapy tumors, we integrated spatial transcriptomics with in situ TCR profiling. Across all tumors, T and B cells preferentially co-localized in immune-rich regions and showed reduced proximity to neuroblast cells. Despite this compartmentalized architecture, {gamma}{delta}T cells were more evenly distributed across tumor sections and showed greater proximity to neuroblast-rich regions than other T cell subsets. Within TCR clonotypes, spatial location was associated with distinct transcriptional states, with immune-rich regions supporting more progenitor-like programs. These findings identify spatial context as a key determinant of phenotype clonotype-specific T cell phenotype and highlight {gamma}{delta}T cells cells as a spatially distinct population with potential roles in neuroblastoma tumor-immune interactions.