Myoglobin Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Fatty Acid Oxidation and Migration via Heme-dependent Oxidant Production and Not Fatty Acid Binding.

The monomeric heme protein myoglobin (Mb), traditionally thought to be expressed exclusively in cardiac and skeletal muscle, is now known to be expressed in approximately 40% of breast tumors. While Mb expression is associated with better patient prognosis, the molecular mechanisms by which Mb limits cancer progression are unclear. In muscle, Mb's predominant function is oxygen storage and delivery, which is dependent on the protein's heme moiety. However, prior studies demonstrate that the low levels of Mb expressed in cancer cells preclude this function. Recent studies propose a novel fatty acid binding function for Mb via a lysine residue (K46) in the heme pocket. Given that cancer cells can upregulate fatty acid oxidation (FAO) to maintain energy production for cytoskeletal remodeling during cell migration, we tested whether Mb-mediated fatty acid binding modulates FAO to decrease breast cancer cell migration. We demonstrate that the stable expression of human Mb in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells decreases cell migration and FAO. Site-directed mutagenesis of Mb to disrupt Mb fatty acid binding did not reverse Mb-mediated attenuation of FAO or cell migration in these cells. In contrast, cells expressing Apo-Mb, in which heme incorporation was disrupted, showed a reversal of Mb-mediated attenuation of FAO and cell migration, suggesting that Mb attenuates FAO and migration via a heme-dependent mechanism rather than through fatty acid binding. To this end, we show that Mb's heme-dependent oxidant generation propagates dysregulated gene expression of migratory genes, and this is reversed by catalase treatment. Collectively, these data demonstrate that Mb decreases breast cancer cell migration, and this effect is due to heme-mediated oxidant production rather than fatty acid binding. The implication of these results will be discussed in the context of therapeutic strategies to modulate oxidant production and Mb in tumors. Highlights: Myoglobin (Mb) expression in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells slows migration.Mb expression decreases mitochondrial respiration and fatty acid oxidation.Mb-dependent fatty acid binding does not regulate cell migration or respiration.Mb-dependent oxidant generation decreases mitochondrial metabolism and migration.Mb-derived oxidants dysregulate migratory gene expression.

Sex-Based Differences in Persistent Lung Inflammation Following Influenza Infection of Juvenile Outbred Mice.

Children are susceptible to influenza infections and can experience severe disease presentation due to a lack of or limited pre-existing immunity. Despite the disproportionate impact influenza has on this population, there is a lack of focus on pediatric influenza research, particularly when it comes to identifying the pathogenesis of long-term outcomes that persist beyond the point of viral clearance. In this study, juvenile outbred male and female mice were infected with influenza and analyzed following viral clearance to determine how sex impacts the persistent inflammatory responses to influenza. It was found that females maintained a broader cytokine response in the lung following clearance of influenza, with innate, type I and type II cytokine signatures in almost all mice. Males, on the other hand, had higher levels of IL-6 and other macrophage-related cytokines, but no evidence of a type I or type II response. The immune landscape was similar in the lungs between males and females post-infection, but males had a higher regulatory T cell to TH1 ratio compared to female mice. Cytokine production positively correlated with the frequency of TH1 cells and exudate macrophages, as well as the number of cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Furthermore, female lungs were enriched for metabolites involved in the glycolytic pathway, suggesting glycolysis is higher in female lungs compared to males after viral clearance. These data suggest juvenile female mice have persistent and excessive lung inflammation beyond the point of viral clearance, while juvenile males had a more immunosuppressive phenotype.

Empagliflozin restores cardiac metabolic flexibility in diet-induced obese C57BL6/J mice.

Sodium-glucose co-transporter type 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor therapy to treat type 2 diabetes unexpectedly reduced all-cause mortality and hospitalization due to heart failure in several large-scale clinical trials, and has since been shown to produce similar cardiovascular disease-protective effects in patients without diabetes. How SGLT2 inhibitor therapy improves cardiovascular disease outcomes remains incompletely understood. Metabolic flexibility refers to the ability of a cell or organ to adjust its use of metabolic substrates, such as glucose or fatty acids, in response to physiological or pathophysiological conditions, and is a feature of a healthy heart that may be lost during diabetic cardiomyopathy and in the failing heart. We therefore undertook studies to determine the effects of SGLT2 inhibitor therapy on cardiac metabolic flexibility in vivo in obese, insulin resistant mice using a [U13C]-glucose infusion during fasting and hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp. Relative rates of cardiac glucose versus fatty acid use during fasting were unaffected by EMPA, whereas insulin-stimulated rates of glucose use were significantly increased by EMPA, alongside significant improvements in cardiac insulin signaling. These metabolic effects of EMPA were associated with reduced cardiac hypertrophy and protection from ischemia. These observations suggest that the cardiovascular disease-protective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors may in part be explained by beneficial effects on cardiac metabolic substrate selection.

Fungal sensing enhances neutrophil metabolic fitness by regulating antifungal Glut1 activity.

Combating fungal pathogens poses metabolic challenges for neutrophils, key innate cells in anti-Candida albicans immunity, yet how host-pathogen interactions cause remodeling of the neutrophil metabolism is unclear. We show that neutrophils mediate renal immunity to disseminated candidiasis by upregulating glucose uptake via selective expression of glucose transporter 1 (Glut1). Mechanistically, dectin-1-mediated recognition of ß-glucan leads to activation of PKCδ, which triggers phosphorylation, localization, and early glucose transport by a pool of pre-formed Glut1 in neutrophils. These events are followed by increased Glut1 gene transcription, leading to more sustained Glut1 accumulation, which is also dependent on the ß-glucan/dectin-1/CARD9 axis. Card9-deficient neutrophils show diminished glucose incorporation in candidiasis. Neutrophil-specific Glut1-ablated mice exhibit increased mortality in candidiasis caused by compromised neutrophil phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. In human neutrophils, ß-glucan triggers metabolic remodeling and enhances candidacidal function. Our data show that the host-pathogen interface increases glycolytic activity in neutrophils by regulating Glut1 expression, localization, and function.

Graft IL-33 regulates infiltrating macrophages to protect against chronic rejection.

Alarmins, sequestered self-molecules containing damage-associated molecular patterns, are released during tissue injury to drive innate immune cell proinflammatory responses. Whether endogenous negative regulators controlling early immune responses are also released at the site of injury is poorly understood. Herein, we establish that the stromal cell-derived alarmin interleukin 33 (IL-33) is a local factor that directly restricts the proinflammatory capacity of graft-infiltrating macrophages early after transplantation. By assessing heart transplant recipient samples and using a mouse heart transplant model, we establish that IL-33 is upregulated in allografts to limit chronic rejection. Mouse cardiac transplants lacking IL-33 displayed dramatically accelerated vascular occlusion and subsequent fibrosis, which was not due to altered systemic immune responses. Instead, a lack of graft IL-33 caused local augmentation of proinflammatory iNOS+ macrophages that accelerated graft loss. IL-33 facilitated a metabolic program in macrophages associated with reparative and regulatory functions, and local delivery of IL-33 prevented the chronic rejection of IL-33-deficient cardiac transplants. Therefore, IL-33 represents what we believe is a novel regulatory alarmin in transplantation that limits chronic rejection by restraining the local activation of proinflammatory macrophages. The local delivery of IL-33 in extracellular matrix-based materials may be a promising biologic for chronic rejection prophylaxis.

Troponin I protein kinase C phosphorylation sites and ventricular function.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac Troponin I (cTnI) phosphorylation by protein kinase C (PKC) results in a reduction of maximal actomyosin ATPase activity, an effect that is more marked at higher levels of calcium (Ca2+) and is likely to reduce active force development. We postulated that there would be greater Ca2+-dependent changes in ventricular function in hearts of cTnI transgenic (TG) mice expressing mutant troponin I lacking PKC sites compared to wild-type (WT). METHODS: We studied left ventricular function in isolated perfused hearts over a wide range of left ventricular volumes (Frank-Starling relationships) and mechanical restitution at three levels of perfusate Ca2+ (1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 mM). Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to study in-vivo sarcolemmal Ca2+ influx. The phosphorylation status of cTnI was examined by western blot analysis. RESULTS: Systolic contractile function in TG mice was altered in a calcium-dependent manner such that ventricular contractility was significantly greater in TG mice only at 3.5 mM perfusate Ca2+. The relaxation process and passive mechanical properties were unaltered in TG mice. Mechanical restitution parameters were abnormal in TG mice only at 1.5 mM perfusate Ca2+. In-vivo MRI data demonstrated up to 48% reduction in Mn2+-induced contrast enhancement, indicating reduced sarcolemmal Ca2+ influx. Western blot analysis indicated increased cTnI phosphorylation in TG mice. CONCLUSIONS: (1) TG mice exhibit calcium-dependent positive inotropy without slowed relaxation and this phenotype is mitigated by concomitant (compensatory) changes of reduced intracellular Ca2+ and increased phosphorylation of remaining cTnI sites. (2) The contractile phenotype in TG mice can be interpreted as an amplification of the normal response to changes in cellular Ca2+ observed in WT mice. Thus, PKC phosphorylation sites on cTnI play a role in attenuating contractile responses to changes in intracellular Ca2+.