Publications
362 results found
Meadows AM, Han K, Singh K, et al., 2023, N-arachidonylglycine is a caloric state-dependent circulating metabolite which regulates human CD4<sup>+</sup>T cell responsiveness, iScience, Vol: 26
Caloric deprivation interventions such as intermittent fasting and caloric restriction ameliorate metabolic and inflammatory disease. As a human model of caloric deprivation, a 24-h fast blunts innate and adaptive immune cell responsiveness relative to the refed state. Isolated serum at these time points confers these same immunomodulatory effects on transformed cell lines. To identify serum mediators orchestrating this, metabolomic and lipidomic analysis was performed on serum extracted after a 24-h fast and re-feeding. Bioinformatic integration with concurrent peripheral blood mononuclear cells RNA-seq analysis implicated key metabolite-sensing GPCRs in fasting-mediated immunomodulation. The putative GPR18 ligand N-arachidonylglycine (NAGly) was elevated during fasting and attenuated CD4+T cell responsiveness via GPR18 MTORC1 signaling. In parallel, NAGly reduced inflammatory Th1 and Th17 cytokines levels in CD4+T cells isolated from obese subjects, identifying a fasting-responsive metabolic intermediate that may contribute to the regulation of nutrient-level dependent inflammation associated with metabolic disease.
Mocciaro G, Allison M, Jenkins B, et al., 2023, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is characterised by a reduced polyunsaturated fatty acid transport via free fatty acids and high-density lipoproteins (HDL)., Mol Metab, Vol: 73
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) develops due to impaired hepatic lipid fluxes and is a risk factor for chronic liver disease and atherosclerosis. Lipidomic studies consistently reported characteristic hepatic/VLDL "lipid signatures" in NAFLD; whole plasma traits are more debated. Surprisingly, the HDL lipid composition by mass spectrometry has not been characterised across the NAFLD spectrum, despite HDL being a possible source of hepatic lipids delivered from peripheral tissues alongside free fatty acids (FFA). This study characterises the HDL lipidomic signature in NAFLD, and its correlation with metabolic and liver disease markers. METHODS: We used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine the whole serum and HDL lipidomic profile in 89 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients and 20 sex and age-matched controls. RESULTS: In the whole serum of NAFLD versus controls, we report a depletion in polyunsaturated (PUFA) phospholipids (PL) and FFA; with PUFA PL being also lower in HDL, and negatively correlated with BMI, insulin resistance, triglycerides, and hepatocyte ballooning. In the HDL of the NAFLD group we also describe higher saturated ceramides, which positively correlate with insulin resistance and transaminases. CONCLUSION: NAFLD features lower serum lipid species containing polyunsaturated fatty acids; the most affected lipid fractions are FFA and (HDL) phospholipids; our data suggest a possible defect in the transfer of PUFA from peripheral tissues to the liver in NAFLD. Mechanistic studies are required to explore the biological implications of our findings addressing if HDL composition can influence liver metabolism and damage, thus contributing to NAFLD pathophysiology.
Hundertmark MJ, Adler A, Antoniades C, et al., 2023, Assessment of Cardiac Energy Metabolism, Function, and Physiology in Patients With Heart Failure Taking Empagliflozin: The Randomized, Controlled EMPA-VISION Trial., Circulation, Vol: 147, Pages: 1654-1669
BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have emerged as a paramount treatment for patients with heart failure (HF), irrespective of underlying reduced or preserved ejection fraction. However, a definite cardiac mechanism of action remains elusive. Derangements in myocardial energy metabolism are detectable in all HF phenotypes, and it was proposed that SGLT2i may improve energy production. The authors aimed to investigate whether treatment with empagliflozin leads to changes in myocardial energetics, serum metabolomics, and cardiorespiratory fitness. METHODS: EMPA-VISION is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, mechanistic trial that enrolled 72 symptomatic patients with chronic HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF; n=36; left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40%; New York Heart Association class ≥II; NT-proBNP [N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide] ≥125 pg/mL) and HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF; n=36; left ventricular ejection fraction ≥50%; New York Heart Association class ≥II; NT-proBNP ≥125 pg/mL). Patients were stratified into respective cohorts (HFrEF versus HFpEF) and randomly assigned to empagliflozin (10 mg; n=35: 17 HFrEF and 18 HFpEF) or placebo (n=37: 19 HFrEF and 18 HFpEF) once daily for 12 weeks. The primary end point was a change in the cardiac phosphocreatine:ATP ratio (PCr:ATP) from baseline to week 12, determined by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy at rest and during peak dobutamine stress (65% of age-maximum heart rate). Mass spectrometry on a targeted set of 19 metabolites was performed at baseline and after treatment. Other exploratory end points were investigated. RESULTS: Empagliflozin treatment did not change cardiac energetics (ie, PCr:ATP) at rest in HFrEF (adjusted mean treatment difference [empagliflozin - placebo], -0.25 [95% CI, -0.58 to 0.09]; P=0.14) or HFpEF (adjusted mean treatment difference, -0.16 [95% CI, -0.60 to 0.29]; P=0.47]. Likewis
Sarmad S, Viant MR, Dunn WB, et al., 2023, A proposed framework to evaluate the quality and reliability of targeted metabolomics assays from the UK Consortium on Metabolic Phenotyping (MAP/UK), NATURE PROTOCOLS, ISSN: 1754-2189
Tyagi T, Jain K, Yarovinsky TO, et al., 2023, Platelet-derived TLT-1 promotes tumor progression by suppressing CD8+ T cells., J Exp Med, Vol: 220
Current understanding of tumor immunosuppressive mechanisms forms the basis for modern day immunotherapies. Immunoregulatory role of platelets in cancer remains largely elusive. Platelets from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients revealed a distinct activation phenotype. TREM-like transcript 1 (TLT-1), a platelet protein, was increased along with enhanced extracellular release from NSCLC platelets. The increased platelet TLT-1 was also evident in humanized mice with patient-derived tumors. In immunocompetent mice with syngeneic tumors, TLT-1 binding to T cells, in vivo, led to suppression of CD8 T cells, promoting tumor growth. We identified direct interaction between TLT-1 and CD3ε on T cells, implicating the NF-κB pathway in CD8 T cell suppression. Anti-TLT-1 antibody rescued patients' T cells from platelet-induced suppression ex vivo and reduced tumors in mice in vivo. Clinically, higher TLT-1 correlated with reduced survival of NSCLC patients. Our findings thus identify TLT-1 as a platelet-derived immunosuppressor that suppresses CD8 T cells and demonstrate its therapeutic and prognostic significance in cancer.
Garcia-Segura ME, Durainayagam BR, Liggi S, et al., 2023, Pathway-based integration of multi-omics data reveals lipidomics alterations validated in an Alzheimer´s Disease mouse model and risk loci carriers, Journal of Neurochemistry, Vol: 164, Pages: 57-76, ISSN: 0022-3042
Alzheimer´s Disease (AD) is a highly prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. Despite increasing evidence of the importance of metabolic dysregulation in AD, the underlying metabolic changes that may impact amyloid plaque formation are not understood, particularly for late onset AD. This study analyzed genome-wide association studies (GWAS), transcriptomics and proteomics data obtained from several data repositories to obtain differentially expressed (DE) multi-omics elements in mouse models of AD. We characterized the metabolic modulation in these datasets using gene ontology, transcription factor, pathway, and cell-type enrichment analyses. A predicted lipid signature was extracted from genome-scale metabolic networks (GSMN) and subsequently validated in a lipidomic dataset derived from cortical tissue of ABCA-7 null mice, a mouse model of one of the genes associated with late onset AD. Moreover, a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) was performed to further characterize the association between dysregulated lipid metabolism in human blood serum and genes associated with AD risk. We found 203 DE transcripts, 164 DE proteins and 58 DE GWAS-derived mouse orthologs associated with significantly enriched metabolic biological processes. Lipid and bioenergetics metabolic pathways were significantly over-represented across the AD multi-omics datasets. Microglia and astrocytes were significantly enriched in the lipid-predominant AD-metabolic transcriptome. We also extracted a predicted lipid signature that was validated and robustly modelled class separation in the ABCA7 mice cortical lipidome, with 11 of these lipid species exhibiting statistically significant modulations. MWAS revealed 298 AD single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)-metabolite associations, of which 70% corresponded to lipid classes. These results support the importance of lipid metabolism dysregulation in AD and highlight the suitability of mapping AD multi-omics data into GSMNs to identify metabol
Pinto GDA, Murgia A, Lai C, et al., 2022, Sphingolipids and acylcarnitines are altered in placentas from women with gestational diabetes mellitus., Br J Nutr, Pages: 1-12
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the most common medical complication of pregnancy and a severe threat to pregnant people and offspring health. The molecular origins of GDM, and in particular the placental responses, are not fully known. The present study aimed to perform a comprehensive characterisation of the lipid species in placentas from pregnancies complicated with GDM using high-resolution MS lipidomics, with a particular focus on sphingolipids and acylcarnitines in a semi-targeted approach. The results indicated that despite no major disruption in lipid metabolism, placentas from GDM pregnancies showed significant alterations in sphingolipids, mostly lower abundance of total ceramides. Additionally, very long-chain ceramides and sphingomyelins with twenty-four carbons were lower, and glucosylceramides with sixteen carbons were higher in placentas from GDM pregnancies. Semi-targeted lipidomics revealed the strong impact of GDM on the placental acylcarnitine profile, particularly lower contents of medium and long-chain fatty-acyl carnitine species. The lower contents of sphingolipids may affect the secretory function of the placenta, and lower contents of long-chain fatty acylcarnitines is suggestive of mitochondrial dysfunction. These alterations in placental lipid metabolism may have consequences for fetal growth and development.
Mustafa NM, Elabd NE, Selim LA, et al., 2022, Creatine Deficiency Syndromes: Comparison of Screening Methods and Characterization of Four Novel Intronic Variants, CLINICA CHIMICA ACTA, Vol: 536, Pages: 70-76, ISSN: 0009-8981
Dehghan A, Pinto RC, Karaman I, et al., 2022, Metabolome-wide association study on ABCA7 indicates a role of ceramide metabolism in Alzheimer's disease., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, Vol: 119, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 0027-8424
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified genetic loci associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the molecular mechanisms by which they confer risk are largely unknown. We conducted a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) of AD-associated loci from GWASs using untargeted metabolic profiling (metabolomics) by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). We identified an association of lactosylceramides (LacCer) with AD-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ABCA7 (P = 5.0 × 10-5 to 1.3 × 10-44). We showed that plasma LacCer concentrations are associated with cognitive performance and genetically modified levels of LacCer are associated with AD risk. We then showed that concentrations of sphingomyelins, ceramides, and hexosylceramides were altered in brain tissue from Abca7 knockout mice, compared with wild type (WT) (P = 0.049-1.4 × 10-5), but not in a mouse model of amyloidosis. Furthermore, activation of microglia increases intracellular concentrations of hexosylceramides in part through induction in the expression of sphingosine kinase, an enzyme with a high control coefficient for sphingolipid and ceramide synthesis. Our work suggests that the risk for AD arising from functional variations in ABCA7 is mediated at least in part through ceramides. Modulation of their metabolism or downstream signaling may offer new therapeutic opportunities for AD.
Mocciaro G, DAmore S, Jenkins B, et al., 2022, Lipidomic approaches to study HDL metabolism in patients with central obesity diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol: 23, Pages: 6786-6786, ISSN: 1422-0067
The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors characterised by central obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, and changes in the circulating lipidome; the underlying mechanisms that lead to this lipid remodelling have only been partially elucidated. This study used an integrated “omics” approach (untargeted whole serum lipidomics, targeted proteomics, and lipoprotein lipidomics) to study lipoprotein remodelling and HDL composition in subjects with central obesity diagnosed with MetS (vs. controls). Compared with healthy subjects, MetS patients showed higher free fatty acids, diglycerides, phosphatidylcholines, and triglycerides, particularly those enriched in products of de novo lipogenesis. On the other hand, the “lysophosphatidylcholines to phosphatidylcholines” and “cholesteryl ester to free cholesterol” ratios were reduced, pointing to a lower activity of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) in MetS; LCAT activity (directly measured and predicted by lipidomic ratios) was positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance. Moreover, many phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins were significantly lower in the HDL of MetS patients and strongly correlated with BMI and clinical metabolic parameters. These results suggest that MetS is associated with an impairment of phospholipid metabolism in HDL, partially led by LCAT, and associated with obesity and underlying insulin resistance. This study proposes a candidate strategy to use integrated “omics” approaches to gain mechanistic insights into lipoprotein remodelling, thus deepening the knowledge regarding the molecular basis of the association between MetS and atherosclerosis.
Brockmoller SF, Bucher E, Mueller BM, et al., 2022, Integration of Metabolomics and Expression of Glycerol-3-phosphate Acyltransferase (GPAM) in Breast Cancer-Link to Patient Survival, Hormone Receptor Status, and Metabolic Profiling (vol 11, pg 850, 2012), JOURNAL OF PROTEOME RESEARCH, Vol: 21, Pages: 1787-1787, ISSN: 1535-3893
Hall Z, Oakley F, Vacca M, et al., 2022, Reply., Hepatology, Vol: 75, Pages: 1347-1348, ISSN: 0270-9139
Climaco Pinto R, Karaman I, Lewis MR, et al., 2022, Finding correspondence between metabolomic features in untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics datasets., Analytical Chemistry, Vol: 94, Pages: 5493-5503, ISSN: 0003-2700
Integration of multiple datasets can greatly enhance bioanalytical studies, for example, by increasing power to discover and validate biomarkers. In liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics, it is especially hard to combine untargeted datasets since the majority of metabolomic features are not annotated and thus cannot be matched by chemical identity. Typically, the information available for each feature is retention time (RT), mass-to-charge ratio (m/z), and feature intensity (FI). Pairs of features from the same metabolite in separate datasets can exhibit small but significant differences, making matching very challenging. Current methods to address this issue are too simple or rely on assumptions that cannot be met in all cases. We present a method to find feature correspondence between two similar LC-MS metabolomics experiments or batches using only the features' RT, m/z, and FI. We demonstrate the method on both real and synthetic datasets, using six orthogonal validation strategies to gauge the matching quality. In our main example, 4953 features were uniquely matched, of which 585 (96.8%) of 604 manually annotated features were correct. In a second example, 2324 features could be uniquely matched, with 79 (90.8%) out of 87 annotated features correctly matched. Most of the missed annotated matches are between features that behave very differently from modeled inter-dataset shifts of RT, MZ, and FI. In a third example with simulated data with 4755 features per dataset, 99.6% of the matches were correct. Finally, the results of matching three other dataset pairs using our method are compared with a published alternative method, metabCombiner, showing the advantages of our approach. The method can be applied using M2S (Match 2 Sets), a free, open-source MATLAB toolbox, available at https://github.com/rjdossan/M2S.
McNally BD, Ashley DF, Hänschke L, et al., 2022, Long-chain ceramides are cell non-autonomous signals linking lipotoxicity to endoplasmic reticulum stress in skeletal muscle., Nat Commun, Vol: 13
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) regulates cellular protein and lipid biosynthesis. ER dysfunction leads to protein misfolding and the unfolded protein response (UPR), which limits protein synthesis to prevent cytotoxicity. Chronic ER stress in skeletal muscle is a unifying mechanism linking lipotoxicity to metabolic disease. Unidentified signals from cells undergoing ER stress propagate paracrine and systemic UPR activation. Here, we induce ER stress and lipotoxicity in myotubes. We observe ER stress-inducing lipid cell non-autonomous signal(s). Lipidomics identifies that palmitate-induced cell stress induces long-chain ceramide 40:1 and 42:1 secretion. Ceramide synthesis through the ceramide synthase 2 de novo pathway is regulated by UPR kinase Perk. Inactivation of CerS2 in mice reduces systemic and muscle ceramide signals and muscle UPR activation. The ceramides are packaged into extracellular vesicles, secreted and induce UPR activation in naïve myotubes through dihydroceramide accumulation. This study furthers our understanding of ER stress by identifying UPR-inducing cell non-autonomous signals.
Seyres D, Cabassi A, Lambourne JJ, et al., 2022, Transcriptional, epigenetic and metabolic signatures in cardiometabolic syndrome defined by extreme phenotypes., Clin Epigenetics, Vol: 14
BACKGROUND: This work is aimed at improving the understanding of cardiometabolic syndrome pathophysiology and its relationship with thrombosis by generating a multi-omic disease signature. METHODS/RESULTS: We combined classic plasma biochemistry and plasma biomarkers with the transcriptional and epigenetic characterisation of cell types involved in thrombosis, obtained from two extreme phenotype groups (morbidly obese and lipodystrophy) and lean individuals to identify the molecular mechanisms at play, highlighting patterns of abnormal activation in innate immune phagocytic cells. Our analyses showed that extreme phenotype groups could be distinguished from lean individuals, and from each other, across all data layers. The characterisation of the same obese group, 6 months after bariatric surgery, revealed the loss of the abnormal activation of innate immune cells previously observed. However, rather than reverting to the gene expression landscape of lean individuals, this occurred via the establishment of novel gene expression landscapes. NETosis and its control mechanisms emerge amongst the pathways that show an improvement after surgical intervention. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that the morbidly obese and lipodystrophy groups, despite some differences, shared a common cardiometabolic syndrome signature. We also showed that this could be used to discriminate, amongst the normal population, those individuals with a higher likelihood of presenting with the disease, even when not displaying the classic features.
Dejnirattisai W, Huo J, Zhou D, et al., 2022, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-B.1.1.529 leads to widespread escape from neutralizing antibody responses, Cell, Vol: 185, Pages: 467-484.e15, ISSN: 0092-8674
On 24th November 2021, the sequence of a new SARS-CoV-2 viral isolate Omicron-B.1.1.529 was announced, containing far more mutations in Spike (S) than previously reported variants. Neutralization titers of Omicron by sera from vaccinees and convalescent subjects infected with early pandemic Alpha, Beta, Gamma, or Delta are substantially reduced, or the sera failed to neutralize. Titers against Omicron are boosted by third vaccine doses and are high in both vaccinated individuals and those infected by Delta. Mutations in Omicron knock out or substantially reduce neutralization by most of the large panel of potent monoclonal antibodies and antibodies under commercial development. Omicron S has structural changes from earlier viruses and uses mutations that confer tight binding to ACE2 to unleash evolution driven by immune escape. This leads to a large number of mutations in the ACE2 binding site and rebalances receptor affinity to that of earlier pandemic viruses.
Adebayo AS, Roman M, Yusoff S, et al., 2022, Gene and metabolite expression dependence on body mass index in human myocardium, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, Vol: 12, ISSN: 2045-2322
Charidemou E, Tsiarli MA, Theophanous A, et al., 2022, Histone acetyltransferase NAA40 modulates acetyl-CoA levels and lipid synthesis., BMC Biol, Vol: 20
BACKGROUND: Epigenetic regulation relies on the activity of enzymes that use sentinel metabolites as cofactors to modify DNA or histone proteins. Thus, fluctuations in cellular metabolite levels have been reported to affect chromatin modifications. However, whether epigenetic modifiers also affect the levels of these metabolites and thereby impinge on downstream metabolic pathways remains largely unknown. Here, we tested this notion by investigating the function of N-alpha-acetyltransferase 40 (NAA40), the enzyme responsible for N-terminal acetylation of histones H2A and H4, which has been previously implicated with metabolic-associated conditions such as age-dependent hepatic steatosis and calorie-restriction-mediated longevity. RESULTS: Using metabolomic and lipidomic approaches, we found that depletion of NAA40 in murine hepatocytes leads to significant increase in intracellular acetyl-CoA levels, which associates with enhanced lipid synthesis demonstrated by upregulation in de novo lipogenesis genes as well as increased levels of diglycerides and triglycerides. Consistently, the increase in these lipid species coincide with the accumulation of cytoplasmic lipid droplets and impaired insulin signalling indicated by decreased glucose uptake. However, the effect of NAA40 on lipid droplet formation is independent of insulin. In addition, the induction in lipid synthesis is replicated in vivo in the Drosophila melanogaster larval fat body. Finally, supporting our results, we find a strong association of NAA40 expression with insulin sensitivity in obese patients. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings demonstrate that NAA40 affects the levels of cellular acetyl-CoA, thereby impacting lipid synthesis and insulin signalling. This study reveals a novel path through which histone-modifying enzymes influence cellular metabolism with potential implications in metabolic disorders.
Timm KN, Ball V, Miller JJ, et al., 2022, Metabolic Effects of Doxorubicin on the Rat Liver Assessed With Hyperpolarized MRI and Metabolomics, Frontiers in Physiology, Vol: 12
Doxorubicin (DOX) is a successful chemotherapeutic widely used for the treatment of a range of cancers. However, DOX can have serious side-effects, with cardiotoxicity and hepatotoxicity being the most common events. Oxidative stress and changes in metabolism and bioenergetics are thought to be at the core of these toxicities. We have previously shown in a clinically-relevant rat model that a low DOX dose of 2 mg kg–1 week–1 for 6 weeks does not lead to cardiac functional decline or changes in cardiac carbohydrate metabolism, assessed with hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). We now set out to assess whether there are any signs of liver damage or altered liver metabolism using this subclinical model. We found no increase in plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, a measure of liver damage, following DOX treatment in rats at any time point. We also saw no changes in liver carbohydrate metabolism, using hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRS. However, using metabolomic analysis of liver metabolite extracts at the final time point, we found an increase in most acyl-carnitine species as well as increases in high energy phosphates, citrate and markers of oxidative stress. This may indicate early signs of steatohepatitis, with increased and decompensated fatty acid uptake and oxidation, leading to oxidative stress.
O'Brien KA, McNally BD, Sowton AP, et al., 2021, Enhanced hepatic respiratory capacity and altered lipid metabolism support metabolic homeostasis during short-term hypoxic stress, BMC BIOLOGY, Vol: 19
Vilca-Melendez S, Uthaug M, Griffin J, 2021, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance: a future approach to the metabolic profiling of psychedelics in human biofluids?, Frontiers in Psychiatry Psychpharmacology, Vol: 12, ISSN: 1664-0640
While psychedelics may have therapeutic potential for treating mental health disorders such as depression, further research is needed to better understand their biological effects and mechanisms of action when considering the development of future novel therapy approaches. Psychedelic research could potentially benefit from the integration of metabonomics by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy, an analytical chemistry-based approach that can measure the breakdown of drugs into their metabolites and their metabolic consequences from various biofluids. We have performed a systematic review of the literature to assess the use of 1H NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics as a tool in psychedelic research.After exploring previously published literature where 1H NMR had analysed psychedelic substances including psilocin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), LSD derivatives, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) and bufotenin, we found that the main use of 1H NMR to date has been for the structural elucidation and analytical characterisation of psychedelic molecules and that no papers used 1H NMR in the metabolic profiling of biofluids, thus exposing a current research gap and the underuse of 1H NMR. The efficacy of 1H NMR spectroscopy was also compared to mass spectrometry, where both metabonomics techniques have previously shown to be appropriate for biofluid analysis in other applications. Additionally, potential future directions for psychedelic research were identified as real-time NMR, in vivo 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and 1H NMR studies of the gut microbiome. Further psychedelic studies need to be conducted that incorporate the use of 1H NMR spectroscopy in the analysis of metabolites both in the peripheral biofluids and CNS to determine whether it will be an effective future approach for clinical and naturalistic research.
Piedrafita G, Varma SJ, Castro C, et al., 2021, Cysteine and iron accelerate the formation of ribose-5-phosphate, providing insights into the evolutionary origins of the metabolic network structure, PLOS Biology, Vol: 19, Pages: e3001468-e3001468
<jats:p>The structure of the metabolic network is highly conserved, but we know little about its evolutionary origins. Key for explaining the early evolution of metabolism is solving a chicken–egg dilemma, which describes that enzymes are made from the very same molecules they produce. The recent discovery of several nonenzymatic reaction sequences that topologically resemble central metabolism has provided experimental support for a “metabolism first” theory, in which at least part of the extant metabolic network emerged on the basis of nonenzymatic reactions. But how could evolution kick-start on the basis of a metal catalyzed reaction sequence, and how could the structure of nonenzymatic reaction sequences be imprinted on the metabolic network to remain conserved for billions of years? We performed an in vitro screening where we add the simplest components of metabolic enzymes, proteinogenic amino acids, to a nonenzymatic, iron-driven reaction network that resembles glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). We observe that the presence of the amino acids enhanced several of the nonenzymatic reactions. Particular attention was triggered by a reaction that resembles a rate-limiting step in the oxidative PPP. A prebiotically available, proteinogenic amino acid cysteine accelerated the formation of RNA nucleoside precursor ribose-5-phosphate from 6-phosphogluconate. We report that iron and cysteine interact and have additive effects on the reaction rate so that ribose-5-phosphate forms at high specificity under mild, metabolism typical temperature and environmental conditions. We speculate that accelerating effects of amino acids on rate-limiting nonenzymatic reactions could have facilitated a stepwise enzymatization of nonenzymatic reaction sequences, imprinting their structure on the evolving metabolic network.</jats:p>
Whitewoods CD, 2021, Riddled with holes: Understanding air space formation in plant leaves, PLOS BIOLOGY, Vol: 19, ISSN: 1544-9173
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Dearlove DJ, Holdsworth D, Kirk T, et al., 2021, β-Hydroxybutyrate Oxidation in Exercise Is Impaired by Low-Carbohydrate and High-Fat Availability, Frontiers in Medicine, Vol: 8
Purpose: In this study, we determined ketone oxidation rates in athletes under metabolic conditions of high and low carbohydrate (CHO) and fat availability. Methods: Six healthy male athletes completed 1 h of bicycle ergometer exercise at 75% maximal power (WMax) on three occasions. Prior to exercise, participants consumed 573 mg·kg bw−1 of a ketone ester (KE) containing a 13C label. To manipulate CHO availability, athletes undertook glycogen depleting exercise followed by isocaloric high-CHO or very-low-CHO diets. To manipulate fat availability, participants were given a continuous infusion of lipid during two visits. Using stable isotope methodology, β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) oxidation rates were therefore investigated under the following metabolic conditions: (i) high CHO + normal fat (KE+CHO); (ii) high CHO + high fat KE+CHO+FAT); and (iii) low CHO + high fat (KE+FAT). Results: Pre-exercise intramuscular glycogen (IMGLY) was approximately halved in the KE+FAT vs. KE+CHO and KE+CHO+FAT conditions (both p < 0.05). Blood free fatty acids (FFA) and intramuscular long-chain acylcarnitines were significantly greater in the KE+FAT vs. other conditions and in the KE+CHO+FAT vs. KE+CHO conditions before exercise. Following ingestion of the 13C labeled KE, blood βHB levels increased to ≈4.5 mM before exercise in all conditions. βHB oxidation was modestly greater in the KE+CHO vs. KE+FAT conditions (mean diff. = 0.09 g·min−1, p = 0.03; d = 0.3), tended to be greater in the KE+CHO+FAT vs. KE+FAT conditions (mean diff. = 0.07 g·min−1; p = 0.1; d = 0.3) and were the same in the KE+CHO vs. KE+CHO+FAT conditions (p < 0.05; d < 0.1). A moderate positive correlation between pre-exercise IMGLY and βHB oxidation rates during exercise was present (p = 0.04; r = 0.5). Post-exercise intramuscular βHB abundance was markedly elevated in the KE+FAT vs. KE+CHO and KE+CHO+FAT conditions (both, p < 0.001; d
Jarvis LB, Rainbow DB, Coppard V, et al., 2021, Therapeutically expanded human regulatory T-cells are super-suppressive due to HIF1A induced expression of CD73., Commun Biol, Vol: 4
The adoptive transfer of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) is a promising therapeutic approach in transplantation and autoimmunity. However, because large cell numbers are needed to achieve a therapeutic effect, in vitro expansion is required. By comparing their function, phenotype and transcriptomic profile against ex vivo Tregs, we demonstrate that expanded human Tregs switch their metabolism to aerobic glycolysis and show enhanced suppressive function through hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1A) driven acquisition of CD73 expression. In conjunction with CD39, CD73 expression enables expanded Tregs to convert ATP to immunosuppressive adenosine. We conclude that for maximum therapeutic benefit, Treg expansion protocols should be optimised for CD39/CD73 co-expression.
Iacovacci J, Lin W, Griffin JL, et al., 2021, IonFlow: a galaxy tool for the analysis of ionomics data sets, Metabolomics, Vol: 17, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 1573-3882
IntroductionInductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) experiments generate complex multi-dimensional data sets that require specialist data analysis tools.ObjectiveHere we describe tools to facilitate analysis of the ionome composed of high-throughput elemental profiling data.MethodsIonFlow is a Galaxy tool written in R for ionomics data analysis and is freely accessible at https://github.com/wanchanglin/ionflow. It is designed as a pipeline that can process raw data to enable exploration and interpretation using multivariate statistical techniques and network-based algorithms, including principal components analysis, hierarchical clustering, relevance network extraction and analysis, and gene set enrichment analysis.Results and ConclusionThe pipeline is described and tested on two benchmark data sets of the haploid S. Cerevisiae ionome and of the human HeLa cell ionome.
Lana-Elola E, Cater H, Watson-Scales S, et al., 2021, Comprehensive phenotypic analysis of the Dp1Tyb mouse strain reveals a broad range of Down syndrome-related phenotypes., Dis Model Mech, Vol: 14
Down syndrome (DS), trisomy 21, results in many complex phenotypes including cognitive deficits, heart defects and craniofacial alterations. Phenotypes arise from an extra copy of human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) genes. However, these dosage-sensitive causative genes remain unknown. Animal models enable identification of genes and pathological mechanisms. The Dp1Tyb mouse model of DS has an extra copy of 63% of Hsa21-orthologous mouse genes. In order to establish whether this model recapitulates DS phenotypes, we comprehensively phenotyped Dp1Tyb mice using 28 tests of different physiological systems and found that 468 out of 1800 parameters were significantly altered. We show that Dp1Tyb mice have wide-ranging DS-like phenotypes, including aberrant erythropoiesis and megakaryopoiesis, reduced bone density, craniofacial changes, altered cardiac function, a pre-diabetic state, and deficits in memory, locomotion, hearing and sleep. Thus, Dp1Tyb mice are an excellent model for investigating complex DS phenotype-genotype relationships for this common disorder.
Knatko E, Castro C, Higgins M, et al., 2021, Nrf2 activation does not affect adenoma development in a mouse model of colorectal cancer, COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY, Vol: 4
Harshfield EL, Fauman EB, Stacey D, et al., 2021, Genome-wide analysis of blood lipid metabolites in over 5000 South Asians reveals biological insights at cardiometabolic disease loci., BMC Med, Vol: 19
BACKGROUND: Genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors can lead to perturbations in circulating lipid levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. However, how changes in individual lipid species contribute to disease risk is often unclear. Moreover, little is known about the role of lipids on cardiovascular disease in Pakistan, a population historically underrepresented in cardiovascular studies. METHODS: We characterised the genetic architecture of the human blood lipidome in 5662 hospital controls from the Pakistan Risk of Myocardial Infarction Study (PROMIS) and 13,814 healthy British blood donors from the INTERVAL study. We applied a candidate causal gene prioritisation tool to link the genetic variants associated with each lipid to the most likely causal genes, and Gaussian Graphical Modelling network analysis to identify and illustrate relationships between lipids and genetic loci. RESULTS: We identified 253 genetic associations with 181 lipids measured using direct infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry in PROMIS, and 502 genetic associations with 244 lipids in INTERVAL. Our analyses revealed new biological insights at genetic loci associated with cardiometabolic diseases, including novel lipid associations at the LPL, MBOAT7, LIPC, APOE-C1-C2-C4, SGPP1, and SPTLC3 loci. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, generated using a distinctive lipidomics platform in an understudied South Asian population, strengthen and expand the knowledge base of the genetic determinants of lipids and their association with cardiometabolic disease-related loci.
Lindsay RT, Dieckmann S, Krzyzanska D, et al., 2021, β-hydroxybutyrate accumulates in the rat heart during low-flow ischaemia with implications for functional recovery., Elife, Vol: 10
Extrahepatic tissues which oxidise ketone bodies also have the capacity to accumulate them under particular conditions. We hypothesised that acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) accumulation and altered redox status during low-flow ischaemia would support ketone body production in the heart. Combining a Langendorff heart model of low-flow ischaemia/reperfusion with liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), we show that β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB) accumulated in the ischaemic heart to 23.9 nmol/gww and was secreted into the coronary effluent. Sodium oxamate, a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) inhibitor, increased ischaemic β-OHB levels 5.3-fold and slowed contractile recovery. Inhibition of β-hydroxy-β-methylglutaryl (HMG)-CoA synthase (HMGCS2) with hymeglusin lowered ischaemic β-OHB accumulation by 40%, despite increased flux through succinyl-CoA-3-oxaloacid CoA transferase (SCOT), resulting in greater contractile recovery. Hymeglusin also protected cardiac mitochondrial respiratory capacity during ischaemia/reperfusion. In conclusion, net ketone generation occurs in the heart under conditions of low-flow ischaemia. The process is driven by flux through both HMGCS2 and SCOT, and impacts on cardiac functional recovery from ischaemia/reperfusion.
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