SUMMARY A “switch” from oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of T cell activation and is thought to be required to meet the metabolic demands of proliferation. However, why proliferating cells adopt this less efficient metabolism, especially in an oxygen-replete environment, remains incompletely understood. We show here that aerobic glycolysis is specifically required for effector function in T cells but that this pathway is not necessary for proliferation or survival. When activated T cells are provided with costimulation and growth factors but are blocked from engaging glycolysis, their ability to produce IFN-γ is markedly compromised. This defect is translational and is regulated by the binding of the glycolysis enzyme GAPDH to AU-rich elements within the 3′ UTR of IFN-γ mRNA. GAPDH, by engaging/disengaging glycolysis and through fluctuations in its expression, controls effector cytokine production. Thus, aerobic glycolysis is a metabolically regulated signaling mechanism needed to control cellular function.

Macrophage polarization involves a coordinated metabolic and transcriptional rewiring that is only partially understood. By using an integrated high-throughput transcriptional-metabolic profiling and analysis pipeline, we characterized systemic changes during murine macrophage M1 and M2 polarization. M2 polarization was found to activate glutamine catabolism and UDP-GlcNAc-associated modules. Correspondingly, glutamine deprivation or inhibition of N-glycosylation decreased M2 polarization and production of chemokine CCL22. In M1 macrophages, we identified a metabolic break at Idh, the enzyme that converts isocitrate to alpha-ketoglutarate, providing mechanistic explanation for TCA cycle fragmentation. (13)C-tracer studies suggested the presence of an active variant of the aspartate-arginosuccinate shunt that compensated for this break. Consistently, inhibition of aspartate-aminotransferase, a key enzyme of the shunt, inhibited nitric oxide and interleukin-6 production in M1 macrophages, while promoting mitochondrial respiration. This systems approach provides a highly integrated picture of the physiological modules supporting macrophage polarization, identifying potential pharmacologic control points for both macrophage phenotypes.

SUMMARY Remodeling of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle is a metabolic adaptation accompanying inflammatory macrophage activation. During this process, endogenous metabolites can adopt regulatory roles that govern specific aspects of inflammatory response, as recently shown for succinate, which regulates the pro-inflammatory IL-1β-HIF-1α axis. Itaconate is one of the most highly induced metabolites in activated macrophages, yet its functional significance remains unknown. Here, we show that itaconate modulates macrophage metabolism and effector functions by inhibiting succinate dehydrogenase-mediated oxidation of succinate. Through this action, itaconate exerts anti-inflammatory effects when administered in vitro and in vivo during macrophage activation and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Using newly generated Irg1−/− mice, which lack the ability to produce itaconate, we show that endogenous itaconate regulates succinate levels and function, mitochondrial respiration, and inflammatory cytokine production during macrophage activation. These studies highlight itaconate as a major physiological regulator of the global metabolic rewiring and effector functions of inflammatory macrophages.

Summary Generation of CD8+ memory T (TM) cells requires metabolic reprogramming that is characterized by enhanced mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO). However, where the fatty acids (FA) that fuel this process come from remains unclear. We found that while CD8+ TM cells engaged higher levels of FAO, they acquired substantially fewer long-chain FA from their external environment than CD8+ effector T (TE) cells. Rather than using extracellular FA directly, TM cells used extracellular glucose to support FAO and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), suggesting that lipids must be synthesized to generate the substrates needed for FAO. We have demonstrated that TM cells rely on cell intrinsic expression of the lysosomal hydrolase LAL (lysosomal acid lipase) to mobilize FA for FAO and TM cell development. Our observations link LAL to metabolic reprogramming in lymphocytes and show that cell intrinsic lipolysis is deterministic for TM cell fate.

Changes in metabolism can be initiated in response to signals received from other cells. An example of this is provided by macrophages that have been stimulated by IL-4 to become alternatively/M2 activated. In these cells, fatty acid oxidation is increased and this is critical for M2 activation. Compared to resting macrophages, M2 macrophages also exhibit changes in glucose metabolism that we have found are essential for activation. In other cell types, mTORC2 has been linked to enhanced glycolysis. We have found that mTORC2 operates in parallel with the IL-4Rα/Stat6 pathway to facilitate increased glycolysis during M2 activation. Our data strongly implicate PI3K and AKT signaling initiated by M-CSF as components in this pathway, and indicate that downstream induction of IRF4 expression plays a role in metabolic reprograming to support M2 activation. We show that loss of mTORC2 in macrophages suppresses tumor growth and decreases immunity to a parasitic nematode.