scholarly journals Quantitative Importance of the Pentose Phosphate Pathway Determined by Incorporation of 13C from [2-13C]- and [3-13C]Glucose into TCA Cycle Intermediates and Neurotransmitter Amino Acids in Functionally Intact Neurons

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1788-1799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva M F Brekke ◽  
Anne B Walls ◽  
Arne Schousboe ◽  
Helle S Waagepetersen ◽  
Ursula Sonnewald

The brain is highly susceptible to oxidative injury, and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) has been shown to be affected by pathological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. While this pathway has been investigated in the intact brain and in astrocytes, little is known about the PPP in neurons. The activity of the PPP was quantified in cultured cerebral cortical and cerebellar neurons after incubation in the presence of [2-13C]glucose or [3-13C]glucose. The activity of the PPP was several fold lower than glycolysis in both types of neurons. While metabolism of 13C-labeled glucose via the PPP does not appear to contribute to the production of releasable lactate, it contributes to labeling of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates and related amino acids. Based on glutamate isotopomers, it was calculated that PPP activity accounts for ∼6% of glucose metabolism in cortical neurons and ∼4% in cerebellar neurons. This is the first demonstration that pyruvate generated from glucose via the PPP contributes to the synthesis of acetyl CoA for oxidation in the TCA cycle. Moreover, the fact that 13C labeling from glucose is incorporated into glutamate proves that both the oxidative and the nonoxidative stages of the PPP are active in neurons.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. dmm047134
Author(s):  
Leonie Drews ◽  
Marcel Zimmermann ◽  
Philipp Westhoff ◽  
Dominik Brilhaus ◽  
Rebecca E. Poss ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAstrocyte dysfunction is a primary factor in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) impairing neuronal activity under hyperammonemia. In particular, the early events causing ammonia-induced toxicity to astrocytes are not well understood. Using established cellular HE models, we show that mitochondria rapidly undergo fragmentation in a reversible manner upon hyperammonemia. Further, in our analyses, within a timescale of minutes, mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis were hampered, which occurred in a pH-independent manner. Using metabolomics, an accumulation of glucose and numerous amino acids, including branched chain amino acids, was observed. Metabolomic tracking of 15N-labeled ammonia showed rapid incorporation of 15N into glutamate and glutamate-derived amino acids. Downregulating human GLUD2 [encoding mitochondrial glutamate dehydrogenase 2 (GDH2)], inhibiting GDH2 activity by SIRT4 overexpression, and supplementing cells with glutamate or glutamine alleviated ammonia-induced inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. Metabolomic tracking of 13C-glutamine showed that hyperammonemia can inhibit anaplerosis of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates. Contrary to its classical anaplerotic role, we show that, under hyperammonemia, GDH2 catalyzes the removal of ammonia by reductive amination of α-ketoglutarate, which efficiently and rapidly inhibits the TCA cycle. Overall, we propose a critical GDH2-dependent mechanism in HE models that helps to remove ammonia, but also impairs energy metabolism in mitochondria rapidly.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mitchell ◽  
Michael Shaw

Mycelium of the flax rust fungus (Melampsora lini (Pers.) Lév.), grown on flax cotyledons in tissue culture, had a mean [Formula: see text]of 4.1 and a mean C6/C1 ratio of 0.14, measured after 4 hours in radioactive glucose. The C6/C1 ratio increased with time and also after treatment with 10−5 M 2,4-dinitrophenol. The relative labelling of the (80%) ethanol-soluble carbohydrates, and organic and amino acid fractions after incubation with glucose-1-, -2-, or -6-14C also indicated preferential release of C1 as 14CO2. Trehalose (unknown A) was tentatively identified in the carbohydrate fraction and was mildly radioactive after incubation of the mycelium with labelled glucose for 3 hours. The principal radioactive products of glucose in this fraction were two unknowns, B and C, which were tentatively identified as mannitol and arabitol. The labelling patterns were consistent with their formation from intermediates of the pentose phosphate pathway. The distribution of radioactivity derived from glucose in alanine, glutamate, and aspartate also indicated that hexose or triose units formed in the pentose phosphate pathway were converted to pyruvate, which either gave rise to alanine or was further oxidized in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Incubation with pyruvate-1-, -2-, or -3-14C for 3 hours gave rise to 14CO2 and labelled alanine, glutamate, and aspartate in a manner consistent with the operation of the TCA cycle. Mannitol-1-6-14C was not metabolized to any appreciable extent in this period, but did give rise to 14CO2 and to several unidentified compounds in the carbohydrate fraction.


Biomolecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 440
Author(s):  
Xixi Guo ◽  
Shiwei Wu ◽  
Ningqiu Li ◽  
Qiang Lin ◽  
Lihui Liu ◽  
...  

Glucose is a main carbon and energy source for virus proliferation and is usually involved in the glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) pathways. In this study, we investigated the roles of glucose-related metabolic pathways during the replication of infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV), which has caused serious economic losses in the cultured Chinese perch (Siniperca chuatsi) industry. We found that ISKNV infection enhanced the metabolic pathways of the PPP and the TCA cycle at the early stage of the ISKNV infection cycle and enhanced the glycolysis pathway at the late stage of the ISKNV infection cycle though the comprehensive analysis of transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. The advanced results proved that ISKNV replication induced upregulation of aerobic glycolysis at the late stage of ISKNV infection cycle and aerobic glycolysis were required for ISKNV multiplication. In addition, the PPP, providing nucleotide biosynthesis, was also required for ISKNV multiplication. However, the TCA cycle involving glucose was not important and necessary for ISKNV multiplication. The results reported here provide new insights into viral pathogenesis mechanism of metabolic shift, as well as antiviral treatment strategies.


Author(s):  
Kamila B. Muchowska ◽  
Sreejith Jayasree VARMA ◽  
Joseph Moran

How core biological metabolism initiated and why it uses the intermediates, reactions and pathways that it does remains unclear. Life builds its molecules from CO<sub>2 </sub>and breaks them down to CO<sub>2 </sub>again through the intermediacy of just five metabolites that act as the hubs of biochemistry. Here, we describe a purely chemical reaction network promoted by Fe<sup>2+ </sup>in which aqueous pyruvate and glyoxylate, two products of abiotic CO<sub>2 </sub>reduction, build up nine of the eleven TCA cycle intermediates, including all five universal metabolic precursors. The intermediates simultaneously break down to CO<sub>2 </sub>in a life-like regime resembling biological anabolism and catabolism. Introduction of hydroxylamine and Fe<sup>0 </sup>produces four biological amino acids. The network significantly overlaps the TCA/rTCA and glyoxylate cycles and may represent a prebiotic precursor to these core metabolic pathways.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 248
Author(s):  
Chang Ha Park ◽  
Hyeon Ji Yeo ◽  
Ye Jin Kim ◽  
Bao Van Nguyen ◽  
Ye Eun Park ◽  
...  

This study aimed to elucidate the variations in primary and secondary metabolites during Lycorisradiata flower development using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). The result showed that seven carotenoids, seven phenolic acids, three anthocyanins, and galantamine were identified in the L. radiata flowers. Most secondary metabolite levels gradually decreased according to the flower developmental stages. A total of 51 metabolites, including amines, sugars, sugar intermediates, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, phenolic acids, and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, were identified and quantified using GC-TOFMS. Among the hydrophilic compounds, most amino acids increased during flower development; in contrast, TCA cycle intermediates and sugars decreased. In particular, glutamine, asparagine, glutamic acid, and aspartic acid, which represent the main inter- and intracellular nitrogen carriers, were positively correlated with the other amino acids and were negatively correlated with the TCA cycle intermediates. Furthermore, quantitation data of the 51 hydrophilic compounds were subjected to partial least-squares discriminant analyses (PLS-DA) to assess significant differences in the metabolites of L. radiata flowers from stages 1 to 4. Therefore, this study will serve as the foundation for a biochemical approach to understand both primary and secondary metabolism in L. radiata flower development.


Metabolites ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manu Shree ◽  
Shyam K. Masakapalli

The goal of this study is to map the metabolic pathways of poorly understood bacterial phytopathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae (Xoo) BXO43 fed with plant mimicking media XOM2 containing glutamate, methionine and either 40% [13C5] xylose or 40% [13C6] glucose. The metabolic networks mapped using the KEGG mapper and the mass isotopomer fragments of proteinogenic amino acids derived from GC-MS provided insights into the activities of Xoo central metabolic pathways. The average 13C in histidine, aspartate and other amino acids confirmed the activities of PPP, the TCA cycle and amino acid biosynthetic routes, respectively. The similar labelling patterns of amino acids (His, Ala, Ser, Val and Gly) from glucose and xylose feeding experiments suggests that PPP would be the main metabolic route in Xoo. Owing to the lack of annotated gene phosphoglucoisomerase in BXO43, the 13C incorporation in alanine could not be attributed to the competing pathways and hence warrants additional positional labelling experiments. The negligible presence of 13C incorporation in methionine brings into question its potential role in metabolism and pathogenicity. The extent of the average 13C labelling in several amino acids highlighted the contribution of pre-existing pools that need to be accounted for in 13C-flux analysis studies. This study provided the first qualitative insights into central carbon metabolic pathway activities in Xoo.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Wang ◽  
Robert Hartman ◽  
Chao Han ◽  
Chao-ming Zhou ◽  
Brandon Couch ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Intervertebral disc degeneration contributes to low back pain. The avascular intervertebral disc consists of a central hypoxic nucleus pulpous (NP) surrounded by the more oxygenated annulus fibrosus (AF). Lactic acid, an abundant end-product of NP glycolysis, has long been viewed as a harmful waste that acidifies disc tissue and decreases cell viability and function. As lactic acid is readily converted into lactate in disc tissue, the objective of this study was to determine whether lactate could be used by AF cells as a carbon source rather than being removed from disc tissue as a waste byproduct. Methods Import and conversion of lactate to tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates and amino acids in rabbit AF cells were measured by heavy-isotope (13C-lactate) tracing experiments using mass spectrometry. Levels of protein expression of lactate converting enzymes, lactate importer and exporter in NP and AF tissues were quantified by Western blots. Effects of lactate on proteoglycan (35S-sulfate) and collagen (3H-proline) matrix protein synthesis and oxidative phosphorylation (Seahorse XFe96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer) in AF cells were assessed. Results Heavy-isotope tracing experiments revealed that AF cells imported and converted lactate into TCA cycle intermediates and amino acids using in vitro cell culture and in vivo models. Addition of exogenous lactate (4 mM) in culture media induced expression of the lactate importer MCT1 and increased oxygen consumption rate by 50%, mitochondrial ATP-linked respiration by 30%, and collagen synthesis by 50% in AF cell cultures grown under physiologic oxygen (2-5% O2) and glucose concentration (1-5 mM). AF tissue highly expresses MCT1, LDH-H, an enzyme that preferentially converts lactate to pyruvate, and PDH, an enzyme that converts pyruvate to acetyl-coA. In contrast, NP tissue highly expresses MCT4, a lactate exporter, and LDH-M, an enzyme that preferentially converts pyruvate to lactate. Conclusions These findings support disc lactate-dependent metabolic symbiosis in which lactate produced by the hypoxic, glycolytic NP cells is utilized by the more oxygenated AF cells via oxidative phosphorylation for energy and matrix production, thus shifting the current research paradigm of viewing disc lactate as a waste product to considering it as an important biofuel. These scientifically impactful results suggest novel therapeutic targets in disc metabolism and degeneration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan-Chi Chang ◽  
Jisun So ◽  
Stefania Lamon-Fava

AbstractThe omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) affect cell function and metabolism, but the differential effects of EPA and DHA are not known. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover study, we assessed the effects of 10-week supplementation with EPA-only and DHA-only (3 g/d), relative to a 4-week lead-in phase of high oleic acid sunflower oil (3 g/day, defined as baseline), on fasting serum metabolites in 21 subjects (9 men and 12 post-menopausal women) with chronic inflammation and some characteristics of metabolic syndrome. Relative to baseline, EPA significantly lowered the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates fumarate and α-ketoglutarate and increased glucuronate, UDP-glucuronate, and non-esterified DHA. DHA significantly lowered the TCA cycle intermediates pyruvate, citrate, isocitrate, fumarate, α-ketoglutarate, and malate, and increased succinate and glucuronate. Pathway analysis showed that both EPA and DHA significantly affected the TCA cycle, the interconversion of pentose and glucuronate, and alanine, and aspartate and glutamate pathways (FDR < 0.05) and that DHA had a significantly greater effect on the TCA cycle than EPA. Our results indicate that EPA and DHA exhibit both common and differential effects on cell metabolism in subjects with chronic inflammation and some key aspects of metabolic syndrome.


2008 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 547-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mourtzakis ◽  
T. E. Graham ◽  
J. González-Alonso ◽  
B. Saltin

Muscle glutamate is central to reactions producing 2-oxoglutarate, a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate that essentially expands the TCA cycle intermediate pool during exercise. Paradoxically, muscle glutamate drops ∼40–80% with the onset of exercise and 2-oxoglutarate declines in early exercise. To investigate the physiological relationship between glutamate, oxidative metabolism, and TCA cycle intermediates (i.e., fumarate, malate, 2-oxoglutarate), healthy subjects trained (T) the quadriceps of one thigh on the single-legged knee extensor ergometer (1 h/day at 70% maximum workload for 5 days/wk), while their contralateral quadriceps remained untrained (UT). After 5 wk of training, peak oxygen consumption (V̇o2peak) in the T thigh was greater than that in the UT thigh ( P < 0.05); V̇o2peak was not different between the T and UT thighs with glutamate infusion. Peak exercise under control conditions revealed a greater glutamate uptake in the T thigh compared with rest (7.3 ± 3.7 vs. 1.0 ± 0.1 μmol·min−1·kg wet wt−1, P < 0.05) without increase in TCA cycle intermediates. In the UT thigh, peak exercise (vs. rest) induced an increase in fumarate (0.33 ± 0.07 vs. 0.02 ± 0.01 mmol/kg dry wt (dw), P < 0.05) and malate (2.2 ± 0.4 vs. 0.5 ± 0.03 mmol/kg dw, P < 0.05) and a decrease in 2-oxoglutarate (12.2 ± 1.6 vs. 32.4 ± 6.8 μmol/kg dw, P < 0.05). Overall, glutamate infusion increased arterial glutamate ( P < 0.05) and maintained this increase. Glutamate infusion coincided with elevated fumarate and malate ( P < 0.05) and decreased 2-oxoglutarate ( P < 0.05) at peak exercise relative to rest in the T thigh; there were no further changes in the UT thigh. Although glutamate may have a role in the expansion of the TCA cycle, glutamate and TCA cycle intermediates do not directly affect V̇o2peak in either trained or untrained muscle.


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