Modeling the metabolic profile of Mytilus edulis reveals molecular signatures linked to gonadal development, sex and environmental site.

The monitoring of anthropogenic chemicals in the aquatic environment including their potential effects on aquatic organisms, is important for protecting life under water, a key sustainable development goal. In parallel with monitoring the concentrations of chemicals of concern, sentinel species are often used to investigate the biological effects of contaminants. Among these, bivalve molluscs such as mussels are filter-feeding and sessile, hence an excellent model system for measuring localized pollution. This study investigates the relationship between the metabolic state of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and its physiology in different environments. We developed a computational model based on a reference site (relatively unpolluted) and integrated seasonal dynamics of metabolite relative concentrations with key physiological indicators and environmental parameters. The analysis of the model revealed that changes in metabolite levels during an annual cycle are influenced by water temperature and are linked to gonadal development. This work supports the importance of data-driven biology and its potential in environmental monitoring.

Regional adaptation defines sensitivity to future ocean acidification.

Physiological responses to temperature are known to be a major determinant of species distributions and can dictate the sensitivity of populations to global warming. In contrast, little is known about how other major global change drivers, such as ocean acidification (OA), will shape species distributions in the future. Here, by integrating population genetics with experimental data for growth and mineralization, physiology and metabolomics, we demonstrate that the sensitivity of populations of the gastropod Littorina littorea to future OA is shaped by regional adaptation. Individuals from populations towards the edges of the natural latitudinal range in the Northeast Atlantic exhibit greater shell dissolution and the inability to upregulate their metabolism when exposed to low pH, thus appearing most sensitive to low seawater pH. Our results suggest that future levels of OA could mediate temperature-driven shifts in species distributions, thereby influencing future biogeography and the functioning of marine ecosystems.

(1)H NMR metabolomics reveals contrasting response by male and female mussels exposed to reduced seawater pH, increased temperature, and a pathogen.

Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemistry of the world's oceans. Ocean acidification (OA) is occurring against a background of warming and an increasing occurrence of disease outbreaks, posing a significant threat to marine organisms, communities, and ecosystems. In the current study, (1)H NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate the response of the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, to a 90-day exposure to reduced seawater pH and increased temperature, followed by a subsequent pathogenic challenge. Analysis of the metabolome revealed significant differences between male and female organisms. Furthermore, males and females are shown to respond differently to environmental stress. While males were significantly affected by reduced seawater pH, increased temperature, and a bacterial challenge, it was only a reduction in seawater pH that impacted females. Despite impacting males and females differently, stressors seem to act via a generalized stress response impacting both energy metabolism and osmotic balance in both sexes. This study therefore has important implications for the interpretation of metabolomic data in mussels, as well as the impact of environmental stress in marine invertebrates in general.

The impact of inflammation on metabolomic profiles in patients with arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory arthritis is associated with systemic manifestations including alterations in metabolism. We used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based metabolomics to assess metabolic fingerprints in serum from patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and those with early arthritis. METHODS: Serum samples were collected from newly presenting patients with established RA who were naive for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, matched healthy controls, and 2 groups of patients with synovitis of ≤3 months' duration whose outcomes were determined at clinical followup. Serum metabolomic profiles were assessed using 1-dimensional (1) H-NMR spectroscopy. Discriminating metabolites were identified, and the relationships between metabolomic profiles and clinical variables including outcomes were examined. RESULTS: The serum metabolic fingerprint in established RA was clearly distinct from that of healthy controls. In early arthritis, we were able to stratify the patients according to the level of current inflammation, with C-reactive protein correlating with metabolic differences in 2 separate groups (P < 0.001). Lactate and lipids were important discriminators of inflammatory burden in both early arthritis patient groups. The sensitivities and specificities of models to predict the development of either RA or persistent arthritis in patients with early arthritis were low. CONCLUSION: The metabolic fingerprint reflects inflammatory disease activity in patients with synovitis, demonstrating that underlying inflammatory processes drive significant changes in metabolism that can be measured in the peripheral blood. The identification of metabolic alterations may provide insights into disease mechanisms operating in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Biomarkers of whale shark health: a metabolomic approach.

In a search for biomarkers of health in whale sharks and as exploration of metabolomics as a modern tool for understanding animal physiology, the metabolite composition of serum in six whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) from an aquarium collection was explored using (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometry (MS). Principal components analysis (PCA) of spectral data showed that individual animals could be resolved based on the metabolite composition of their serum and that two unhealthy individuals could be discriminated from the remaining healthy animals. The major difference between healthy and unhealthy individuals was the concentration of homarine, here reported for the first time in an elasmobranch, which was present at substantially lower concentrations in unhealthy whale sharks, suggesting that this metabolite may be a useful biomarker of health status in this species. The function(s) of homarine in sharks remain uncertain but it likely plays a significant role as an osmolyte. The presence of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), another well-known protective osmolyte of elasmobranchs, at 0.1-0.3 mol L(-1) was also confirmed using both NMR and MS. Twenty-three additional potential biomarkers were identified based on significant differences in the frequency of their occurrence between samples from healthy and unhealthy animals, as detected by DART MS. Overall, NMR and MS provided complementary data that showed that metabolomics is a useful approach for biomarker prospecting in poorly studied species like elasmobranchs.

Fumarate is cardioprotective via activation of the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway.

The citric acid cycle (CAC) metabolite fumarate has been proposed to be cardioprotective; however, its mechanisms of action remain to be determined. To augment cardiac fumarate levels and to assess fumarate's cardioprotective properties, we generated fumarate hydratase (Fh1) cardiac knockout (KO) mice. These fumarate-replete hearts were robustly protected from ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R). To compensate for the loss of Fh1 activity, KO hearts maintain ATP levels in part by channeling amino acids into the CAC. In addition, by stabilizing the transcriptional regulator Nrf2, Fh1 KO hearts upregulate protective antioxidant response element genes. Supporting the importance of the latter mechanism, clinically relevant doses of dimethylfumarate upregulated Nrf2 and its target genes, hence protecting control hearts, but failed to similarly protect Nrf2-KO hearts in an in vivo model of myocardial infarction. We propose that clinically established fumarate derivatives activate the Nrf2 pathway and are readily testable cytoprotective agents.

1H chemical shifts in NMR. Part 27: proton chemical shifts in sulfoxides and sulfones and the magnetic anisotropy, electric field and steric effects of the SO bond.

The (1)H chemical shifts of a series of sulfoxide and sulfone compounds in CDCl(3) solvent were obtained from experiment and the literature. These included dialkyl sulfoxides and sulfones (R(2)SO/R(2)SO(2), R = Me, Et, Pr, n-Bu), the cyclic compounds tetramethylene sulfoxide/sulfone, pentamethylene sulfoxide/sulfone and the aromatic compounds p-tolylmethylsulfoxide, dibenzothiopheneoxide/dioxide, E-9-phenanthrylmethylsulfoxide and (E) (Z)-1-methylsulfinyl-2-methylnaphthalene. The spectra of the pentamethylene SO and SO(2) compounds were obtained at -70 degrees C to obtain the spectra from the separate conformers (SO) and from the noninverting ring (SO(2)). This allowed the determination of the substituent chemical shifts (SCS) of the SO and SO(2) functional groups, which were analyzed in terms of the SO bond electric field, magnetic anisotropy and steric effect for long-range protons together with a model (CHARGE8d) for the calculation of the two and three bond effects. After parameterization, the overall root mean square (RMS) error (observed-calculated) for a dataset of 354 (1)H chemical shifts was 0.11 ppm. The anisotropy of the SO bond was found to be very small, supporting the dominant single bond S(+)--O(-) character of this bond.

1H chemical shifts in NMR: Part 23, the effect of dimethyl sulphoxide versus chloroform solvent on 1H chemical shifts.

The 1H chemical shifts of 124 compounds containing a variety of functional groups have been recorded in CDCl3 and DMSO-d6 (henceforth DMSO) solvents. The 1H solvent shift Delta delta = delta(DMSO) - delta(CDCl3) varies from -0.3 to +4.6 ppm. This solvent shift can be accurately predicted (rms error 0.05 ppm) using the charge model of alpha, beta, gamma and long-range contributions. The labile protons of alcohols, acids, amines and amides give both, the largest solvent shifts and the largest errors. The contributions for the various groups are tabulated and it is shown that for H.C.C.X gamma-effects (X = OH, NH, =O, NH.CO) there is a dihedral angle dependence of the gamma-effect. The group contributions are discussed in terms of the possible solvent-solute interactions. For protic hydrogens, hydrogen bonding is the dominant interaction, but for the remaining protons solvent anisotropy and electric field effects appear to be the major factors.

1H chemical shifts in NMR: Part 22-Prediction of the 1H chemical shifts of alcohols, diols and inositols in solution, a conformational and solvation investigation.

The (1)H NMR spectra of a number of alcohols, diols and inositols are reported and assigned in CDCl(3), D(2)O and DMSO-d(6) (henceforth DMSO) solutions. These data were used to investigate the effects of the OH group on the (1)H chemical shifts in these molecules and also the effect of changing the solvent. Inspection of the (1)H chemical shifts of those alcohols which were soluble in both CDCl(3) and D(2)O shows that there is no difference in the chemical shifts in the two solvents, provided that the molecules exist in the same conformation in the two solvents. In contrast, DMSO gives rise to significant and specific solvation shifts. The (1)H chemical shifts of these compounds in the three solvents were analysed using the CHARGE model. This model incorporates the electric field, magnetic anisotropy and steric effects of the functional group for long-range protons together with functions for the calculation of the two- and three-bond effects. The long-range effect of the OH group was quantitatively explained without the inclusion of either the C--O bond anisotropy or the C--OH electric field. Differential beta and gamma effects for the 1,2-diol group needed to be included to obtain accurate chemical shift predictions. For DMSO solution the differential solvent shifts were calculated in CHARGE on the basis of a similar model, incorporating two-bond, three-bond and long-range effects. The analyses of the (1)H spectra of the inositols and their derivatives in D(2)O and DMSO solution also gave the ring (1)H,(1)H coupling constants and for DMSO solution the CH--OH couplings and OH chemical shifts. The (1)H,(1)H coupling constants were calculated in the CHARGE program by an extension of the cos(2)phi equation to include the orientation effects of electronegative atoms and the CH--OH couplings by a simple cos(2)phi equation. Comparison of the observed and calculated couplings confirmed the proposed conformations of myo-inositol, chiro-inositol, quebrachitol and allo-inositol. The OH chemical shifts were also calculated in the CHARGE program. Comparison of the observed and calculated OH chemical shifts and CH.OH couplings suggested the existence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding in a myo-inositol derivative.