Metabolic profiling of serum in patients with cartilage tumours using 1 H-NMR spectroscopy: A pilot study.

Cartilage-forming lesions include tumours that can vary in severity from benign enchondromas to high-grade malignant chondrosarcomas. Chondrosarcoma is the second most frequent malignant bone tumour, accounting for 20-30% of all malignant bone neoplasms. Surgery is the standard treatment for cartilage tumours (CTs); however, their incidental diagnosis and the difficult differentiation of low-grade lesions like chondrosarcoma grade I from benign entities like enchondroma are challenges for clinical management. In this sense, the search for circulating biomarkers for early detection and prognosis is an ongoing interest. Targeted metabolomics is a powerful tool that can propose potential biomarkers in biological fluids as well as help to discover disturbed metabolic pathways to reveal tumour pathogenesis. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic serum profile of patients with CTs contrasted with healthy controls. Forty-one metabolites were identified and quantified; the multivariate statistical methods principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis reveal a clear separation of the CT group, that is, the differential metabolites that were involved in two main metabolic pathways: the taurine and hypotaurine metabolism and synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies. Our results represent preliminary work for emergent serum-based diagnostics or prognostic methods for patients with chondrogenic tumours.

Studies of (-)-pironetin binding to α-tubulin: conformation, docking, and molecular dynamics.

A comprehensive conformational analysis for the anticancer agent pironetin (1) was achieved by molecular modeling using density functional theory calculations at the B3PW91/DGTZVP level in combination with calculated and experimental (1)H-(1)H coupling constants comparison. Two solvent-dependent conformational families (L and M) were revealed for the optimum conformations. Docking studies of the pironetin-tubulin complex determined a quantitative model for the hydrogen-bond interactions of pironetin through the αAsn249, αAsn258, and αLys352 amino groups in α-tubulin, which supported the formation of a covalent adduct between the αLys352 and the ß carbon atom of the α,ß-unsaturated lactone. Saturation-transfer difference NMR spectroscopy confirmed that pironetin binds to tubulin, while molecular dynamics exposed a distortion of the tubulin secondary structure at the H8 and H10 α-helices as well as at the S9 ß-sheet, where αLys352 is located. A large structural perturbation in the M-loop geometry between the αIle274 and αLeu285 residues, an essential region for molecular recognition between α-α and ß-ß units of protofilaments, was also identified and provided a rationale for the pironetin inhibitory activity.

The ketone body ß-Hydroxybutyrate as a fuel source of chondrosarcoma cells.

Chondrosarcoma (CS) is a malignant bone tumor arising from cartilage-producing cells. The conventional subtype of CS typically develops within a dense cartilaginous matrix, creating an environment deficient in oxygen and nutrients, necessitating metabolic adaptation to ensure proliferation under stress conditions. Although ketone bodies (KBs) are oxidized by extrahepatic tissue cells such as the heart and brain, specific cancer cells, including CS cells, can undergo ketolysis. In this study, we found that KBs catabolism is activated in CS cells under nutrition-deprivation conditions. Interestingly, cytosolic ß-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase 2 (BDH2), rather than mitochondrial BDH1, is expressed in these cells, indicating a specific metabolic adaptation for ketolysis in this bone tumor. The addition of the KB, ß-Hydroxybutyrate (ß-HB) in serum-starved CS cells re-induced the expression of BDH2, along with the key ketolytic enzyme 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase 1 (OXCT1) and monocarboxylate transporter-1 (MCT1). Additionally, internal ß-HB production was quantified in supplied and starved cells, suggesting that CS cells are also capable of ketogenesis alongside ketolysis. These findings unveil a novel metabolic adaptation wherein nutrition-deprived CS cells utilize KBs for energy supply and proliferation.

1H NMR-based metabolomic fingerprinting to determine metabolite levels in serrano peppers (Capsicum annum L.) grown in two different regions.

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) is the most important and emblematic condiment in Mexican food. Serrano pepper is a variety of C. annuum that is traditionally cultivated in Mexico and commercialized in local markets. The aim of this study was to describe the 1H NMR metabolomic profiling of the aqueous phase of serrano peppers harvested from two distinct regions, in the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca, Mexico. According to the current results, aspartate citrate, lactate, leucine and sucrose were found at higher amount in the serrano peppers from Veracruz. On the other hand, acetate, formate, fumarate, malonate, phosphocholine, pyruvate and succinate showed the highest abundance in this product from Oaxaca. These are the main metabolites that distinguish one group from the other. The spectrometric method reported presently is characterized by great simplicity, robustness and reproducibility. Thus, this technique can be used for establishing reliable metabolomic fingerprints of serrano peppers grown under different environmental conditions.

Conformational and reactivity study of dithiophenyl-fucosyl ketals with theoretical chemical methods.

Carbohydrates can be used as substrates to synthesize new complex molecules; these molecules contain several chiral centers that can be used in organic synthesis. D-Fucose diphenyl thioacetal reacts differentially with acetone, and this paper describes a study of the mechanism of this reaction using theoretical chemistry methods. The conformer distribution was studied using a Monte Carlo method for the reaction products, and the obtained conformers were validated by calculating the hydrogen spin-spin coupling constants with the DFT/B3LYP/DGDZVP method. Results agreed with the experimental coupling constants with an adequate root mean squared deviation. The free energies and enthalpies of formation of the resulting global minimum conformers were calculated with the same method and with the thermochemical compound method CBS-4 M. This technique, combined with the conformational analysis, allowed comparison of the formation enthalpies of the compounds involved in this reaction, and, with this information, we can postulate the correct reaction pathway. Graphical abstract Reaction pathway.