Single-cell metabolic imaging reveals a RhoA-triggered glycolytic burst in motile endothelial cells
Abstract Single-cell motility is spatially heterogeneous and driven by metabolic energy. Direct linking cell mobility to cell metabolism is technically challenging but biologically important. Here we implemented a single-cell metabolic imaging assay to measure glycolysis in individual endothelial cells using genetically-encoded biosensors capable of deciphering metabolic heterogeneity with subcellular resolution. We observed that cellular glycolysis fuels endothelial activation, migration and contraction and that the high lactate production sites co-localize with active cytoskeletal remodeling within an endothelial cell. Mechanistically, we found RhoA induces endothelial glycolysis for the phosphorylation of cofilin and myosin light chain in order to reorganize the cytoskeleton and thus control cell mobility; RhoA activation triggers a glycolytic burst through the translocation of a glucose transporter SLC2A3/GLUT3 to fuel the cellular contractile machinery, as demonstrated across multiple endothelial types. Together, our results discovered that Rho-GTPase signaling coordinates energetic metabolism with cytoskeleton remodeling to regulate the motility of single endothelial cells.