Impaired estrogen receptor α(ERα) action promotes obesity and metabolic dysfunction in humans and mice; however, the mechanisms underlying these phenotypes remain unknown. Considering that skeletal muscle is a primary tissue responsible for glucose disposal and oxidative metabolism, we established that reduced ERαexpression in muscle is associated with glucose intolerance and adiposity in women and female mice. To test this relationship, we generated muscle-specific ERαknockout (MERKO) mice. Impaired glucose homeostasis and increased adiposity were paralleled by diminished muscle oxidative metabolism and bioactive lipid accumulation in MERKO mice. Aberrant mitochondrial morphology, overproduction of reactive oxygen species, and impairment in basal and stress-induced mitochondrial fission dynamics, driven by imbalanced protein kinase A–regulator of calcineurin 1–calcineurin signaling through dynamin-related protein 1, tracked with reduced oxidative metabolism in MERKO muscle. Although muscle mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) abundance was similar between the genotypes, ERαdeficiency diminished mtDNA turnover by a balanced reduction in mtDNA replication and degradation. Our findings indicate the retention of dysfunctional mitochondria in MERKO muscle and implicate ERαin the preservation of mitochondrial health and insulin sensitivity as a defense against metabolic disease in women.

SUMMARY Mutant p53 (mtp53) is an oncogene that drives cancer cell proliferation. Here we report that mtp53 associates with the promoters of numerous nucleotide metabolism genes (NMG). Mtp53 knockdown reduces NMG expression and substantially depletes nucleotide pools, which attenuates GTP dependent protein (GTPase) activity and cell invasion. Addition of exogenous guanosine or GTP restores the invasiveness of mtp53 knockdown cells, suggesting that mtp53 promotes invasion by increasing GTP. Additionally, mtp53 creates a dependency on the nucleoside salvage pathway enzyme deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) for the maintenance of a proper balance in dNTP pools required for proliferation. These data indicate that mtp53 harboring cells have acquired a synthetic sick or lethal phenotype relationship with the nucleoside salvage pathway. Finally, elevated expression of NMG correlates with mutant p53 status and poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Thus, mtp53’s control of nucleotide biosynthesis has both a driving and sustaining role in cancer development.

BackgroundThere is considerable interest in defining the metabolic abnormalities of IDH mutant tumors to exploit for therapy. While most studies have attempted to discern function by using cell lines transduced with exogenous IDH mutant enzyme, in this study, we perform unbiased metabolomics to discover metabolic differences between a cohort of patient-derived IDH1 mutant and IDH wildtype gliomaspheres.MethodsUsing both our own microarray and the TCGA datasets, we performed KEGG analysis to define pathways differentially enriched in IDH1 mutant and IDH wildtype cells and tumors. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis with labeled glucose and deoxycytidine tracers was used to determine differences in overall cellular metabolism and nucleotide synthesis. Radiation-induced DNA damage and repair capacity was assessed using a comet assay. Differences between endogenous IDH1 mutant metabolism and that of IDH wildtype cells transduced with the IDH1 (R132H) mutation were also investigated.ResultsOur KEGG analysis revealed that IDH wildtype cells were enriched for pathways involved in de novo nucleotide synthesis, while IDH1 mutant cells were enriched for pathways involved in DNA repair. LC-MS analysis with fully labeled 13C-glucose revealed distinct labeling patterns between IDH1 mutant and wildtype cells. Additional LC-MS tracing experiments confirmed increased de novo nucleotide synthesis in IDH wildtype cells relative to IDH1 mutant cells. Endogenous IDH1 mutant cultures incurred less DNA damage than IDH wildtype cultures and sustained better overall growth following X-ray radiation. Overexpression of mutant IDH1 in a wildtype line did not reproduce the range of metabolic differences observed in lines expressing endogenous mutations, but resulted in depletion of glutamine and TCA cycle intermediates, an increase in DNA damage following radiation, and a rise in intracellular ROS.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that IDH1 mutant and IDH wildtype cells are easily distinguishable metabolically by analyzing expression profiles and glucose consumption. Our results also highlight important differences in nucleotide synthesis utilization and DNA repair capacity that could be exploited for therapy. Altogether, this study demonstrates that IDH1 mutant gliomas are a distinct subclass of glioma with a less malignant, but also therapy-resistant, metabolic profile that will likely require distinct modes of therapy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40170-018-0177-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Leukemia cells rely on two nucleotide biosynthetic pathways, de novo and salvage, to produce dNTPs for DNA replication. Here, using metabolomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic approaches, we show that inhibition of the replication stress sensing kinase ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein (ATR) reduces the output of both de novo and salvage pathways by regulating the activity of their respective rate-limiting enzymes, ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) and deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), via distinct molecular mechanisms. Quantification of nucleotide biosynthesis in ATR-inhibited acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells reveals substantial remaining de novo and salvage activities, and could not eliminate the disease in vivo. However, targeting these remaining activities with RNR and dCK inhibitors triggers lethal replication stress in vitro and long-term disease-free survival in mice with B-ALL, without detectable toxicity. Thus the functional interplay between alternative nucleotide biosynthetic routes and ATR provides therapeutic opportunities in leukemia and potentially other cancers.

Deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), a rate-limiting enzyme in the cytosolic deoxyribonucleoside (dN) salvage pathway, is an important therapeutic and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging target in cancer. PET probes for dCK have been developed and are effective in mice but have suboptimal specificity and sensitivity in humans. To identify a more suitable probe for clinical dCK PET imaging, we compared the selectivity of two candidate compounds—[18F]Clofarabine; 2-chloro-2′-deoxy-2′-[18F]fluoro-9-β-d-arabinofuranosyl-adenine ([18F]CFA) and 2′-deoxy-2′-[18F]fluoro-9-β-d-arabinofuranosyl-guanine ([18F]F-AraG)—for dCK and deoxyguanosine kinase (dGK), a dCK-related mitochondrial enzyme. We demonstrate that, in the tracer concentration range used for PET imaging, [18F]CFA is primarily a substrate for dCK, with minimal cross-reactivity. In contrast, [18F]F-AraG is a better substrate for dGK than for dCK. [18F]CFA accumulation in leukemia cells correlated with dCK expression and was abrogated by treatment with a dCK inhibitor. Although [18F]CFA uptake was reduced by deoxycytidine (dC) competition, this inhibition required high dC concentrations present in murine, but not human, plasma. Expression of cytidine deaminase, a dC-catabolizing enzyme, in leukemia cells both in cell culture and in mice reduced the competition between dC and [18F]CFA, leading to increased dCK-dependent probe accumulation. First-in-human, to our knowledge, [18F]CFA PET/CT studies showed probe accumulation in tissues with high dCK expression: e.g., hematopoietic bone marrow and secondary lymphoid organs. The selectivity of [18F]CFA for dCK and its favorable biodistribution in humans justify further studies to validate [18F]CFA PET as a new cancer biomarker for treatment stratification and monitoring.