Versatility of microglial bioenergetic machinery under starving conditions.

Microglia are highly dynamic cells in the brain. Their functional diversity and phenotypic versatility brought microglial energy metabolism into the focus of research. Although it is known that microenvironmental cues shape microglial phenotype, their bioenergetic response to local nutrient availability remains unclear. In the present study effects of energy substrates on the oxidative and glycolytic metabolism of primary - and BV-2 microglial cells were investigated. Cellular oxygen consumption, glycolytic activity, the levels of intracellular ATP/ADP, autophagy, mTOR phosphorylation, apoptosis and cell viability were measured in the absence of nutrients or in the presence of physiological energy substrates: glutamine, glucose, lactate, pyruvate or ketone bodies. All of the oxidative energy metabolites increased the rate of basal and maximal respiration. However, the addition of glucose decreased microglial oxidative metabolism and glycolytic activity was enhanced. Increased ATP/ADP ratio and cell viability, activation of the mTOR and reduction of autophagic activity were observed in glutamine-supplemented media. Moreover, moderate and transient oxidation of ketone bodies was highly enhanced by glutamine, suggesting that anaplerosis of the TCA-cycle could stimulate ketone body oxidation. It is concluded that microglia show high metabolic plasticity and utilize a wide range of substrates. Among them glutamine is the most efficient metabolite. To our knowledge these data provide the first account of microglial direct metabolic response to nutrients under short-term starvation and demonstrate that microglia exhibit versatile metabolic machinery. Our finding that microglia have a distinct bioenergetic profile provides a critical foundation for specifying microglial contributions to brain energy metabolism.

Rescue Procedures after Suboptimal Deep Brain Stimulation Outcomes in Common Movement Disorders.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a unique, functional neurosurgical therapy indicated for medication refractory movement disorders as well as some psychiatric diseases. Multicontact electrodes are placed in "deep" structures within the brain with targets varying depending on the surgical indication. An implanted programmable pulse generator supplies the electrodes with a chronic, high frequency electrical current that clinically mimics the effects of ablative lesioning techniques. DBS's efficacy has been well established for its movement disorder indications (Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia). However, clinical outcomes are sometimes suboptimal, even in the absence of common, potentially reversible complications such as hardware complications, infection, poor electrode placement, and poor programming parameters. This review highlights some of the rescue procedures that have been explored in suboptimal DBS cases for Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. To date, the data is limited and difficult to generalize, but a large majority of published reports demonstrate positive results. The decision to proceed with such treatments should be made on a case by case basis. Larger studies are needed to clearly establish the benefit of rescue procedures and to establish for which patient populations they may be most appropriate.

TP53 mutation hits energy metabolism and increases glycolysis in breast cancer.

Promising new hallmarks of cancer is alteration of energy metabolism that involves molecular mechanisms shifting cancer cells to aerobe glycolysis. Our goal was to evaluate the correlation between mutation in the commonly mutated tumor suppressor gene TP53 and metabolism. We established a database comprising mutation and RNA-seq expression data of the TCGA repository and performed receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis to compare expression of each gene between TP53 mutated and wild type samples. All together 762 breast cancer samples were evaluated of which 215 had TP53 mutation. Top up-regulated metabolic genes include glycolytic enzymes (e.g. HK3, GPI, GAPDH, PGK1, ENO1), glycolysis regulator (PDK1) and pentose phosphate pathway enzymes (PGD, TKT, RPIA). Gluconeogenesis enzymes (G6PC3, FBP1) were down-regulated. Oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification rates were measured in TP53 wild type and mutant breast cell lines with a microfluorimetric analyzer. Applying metabolic inhibitors in the presence and absence of D-glucose and L-glutamine in cell culture experiments resulted in higher glycolytic and mitochondrial activity in TP53 mutant breast cancer cell lines. In summary, TP53 mutation influences energy metabolism at multiple levels. Our results provide evidence for the synergistic activation of multiple hallmarks linking to these the mutation status of a key driver gene.

Differentiation-Dependent Energy Production and Metabolite Utilization: A Comparative Study on Neural Stem Cells, Neurons, and Astrocytes.

While it is evident that the metabolic machinery of stem cells should be fairly different from that of differentiated neurons, the basic energy production pathways in neural stem cells (NSCs) or in neurons are far from clear. Using the model of in vitro neuron production by NE-4C NSCs, this study focused on the metabolic changes taking place during the in vitro neuronal differentiation. O2 consumption, H(+) production, and metabolic responses to single metabolites were measured in cultures of NSCs and in their neuronal derivatives, as well as in primary neuronal and astroglial cultures. In metabolite-free solutions, NSCs consumed little O2 and displayed a higher level of mitochondrial proton leak than neurons. In stem cells, glycolysis was the main source of energy for the survival of a 2.5-h period of metabolite deprivation. In contrast, stem cell-derived or primary neurons sustained a high-level oxidative phosphorylation during metabolite deprivation, indicating the consumption of own cellular material for energy production. The stem cells increased O2 consumption and mitochondrial ATP production in response to single metabolites (with the exception of glucose), showing rapid adaptation of the metabolic machinery to the available resources. In contrast, single metabolites did not increase the O2 consumption of neurons or astrocytes. In "starving" neurons, neither lactate nor pyruvate was utilized for mitochondrial ATP production. Gene expression studies also suggested that aerobic glycolysis and rapid metabolic adaptation characterize the NE-4C NSCs, while autophagy and alternative glucose utilization play important roles in the metabolism of stem cell-derived neurons.

Abolition of mitochondrial substrate-level phosphorylation by itaconic acid produced by LPS-induced Irg1 expression in cells of murine macrophage lineage.

Itaconate is a nonamino organic acid exhibiting antimicrobial effects. It has been recently identified in cells of macrophage lineage as a product of an enzyme encoded by immunoresponsive gene 1 (Irg1), acting on the citric acid cycle intermediate cis-aconitate. In mitochondria, itaconate can be converted by succinate-coenzyme A (CoA) ligase to itaconyl-CoA at the expense of ATP (or GTP), and is also a weak competitive inhibitor of complex II. Here, we investigated specific bioenergetic effects of increased itaconate production mediated by LPS-induced stimulation of Irg1 in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) and RAW-264.7 cells. In rotenone-treated macrophage cells, stimulation by LPS led to impairment in substrate-level phosphorylation (SLP) of in situ mitochondria, deduced by a reversal in the directionality of the adenine nucleotide translocase operation. In RAW-264.7 cells, the LPS-induced impairment in SLP was reversed by short-interfering RNA(siRNA)-but not scrambled siRNA-treatment directed against Irg1. LPS dose-dependently inhibited oxygen consumption rates (61-91%) and elevated glycolysis rates (>21%) in BMDM but not RAW-264.7 cells, studied under various metabolic conditions. In isolated mouse liver mitochondria treated with rotenone, itaconate dose-dependently (0.5-2 mM) reversed the operation of adenine nucleotide translocase, implying impairment in SLP, an effect that was partially mimicked by malonate. However, malonate yielded greater ADP-induced depolarizations (3-19%) than itaconate. We postulate that itaconate abolishes SLP due to 1) a "CoA trap" in the form of itaconyl-CoA that negatively affects the upstream supply of succinyl-CoA from the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex; 2) depletion of ATP (or GTP), which are required for the thioesterification by succinate-CoA ligase; and 3) inhibition of complex II leading to a buildup of succinate which shifts succinate-CoA ligase equilibrium toward ATP (or GTP) utilization. Our results support the notion that Irg1-expressing cells of macrophage lineage lose the capacity of mitochondrial SLP for producing itaconate during mounting of an immune defense.