Spatial organization of translation and translational repression in two phases of germ granules.

Most RNA-protein condensates are composed of heterogeneous immiscible phases. However, how this multiphase organization contributes to their biological functions remains largely unexplored. Drosophila germ granules, a class of RNA-protein condensates, are the site of mRNA storage and translational activation. Here, using super-resolution microscopy and single-molecule imaging approaches, we show that germ granules have a biphasic organization and that translation occurs in the outer phase and at the surface of the granules. The localization, directionality, and compaction of mRNAs within the granule depend on their translation status, translated mRNAs being enriched in the outer phase with their 5'end oriented towards the surface. Translation is strongly reduced when germ granule biphasic organization is lost. These findings reveal the intimate links between the architecture of RNA-protein condensates and the organization of their different functions, highlighting the functional compartmentalization of these condensates.

piRNAs are regulators of metabolic reprogramming in stem cells.

Stem cells preferentially use glycolysis instead of oxidative phosphorylation and this metabolic rewiring plays an instructive role in their fate; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unexplored. PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and PIWI proteins have essential functions in a range of adult stem cells across species. Here, we show that piRNAs and the PIWI protein Aubergine (Aub) are instrumental in activating glycolysis in Drosophila female germline stem cells (GSCs). Higher glycolysis is required for GSC self-renewal and aub loss-of-function induces a metabolic switch in GSCs leading to their differentiation. Aub directly binds glycolytic mRNAs and Enolase mRNA regulation by Aub depends on its 5'UTR. Furthermore, mutations of a piRNA target site in Enolase 5'UTR lead to GSC loss. These data reveal an Aub/piRNA function in translational activation of glycolytic mRNAs in GSCs, and pinpoint a mechanism of regulation of metabolic reprogramming in stem cells based on small RNAs.

Liraglutide targets the gut microbiota and the intestinal immune system to regulate insulin secretion.

AIMS: Liraglutide controls type 2 diabetes (T2D) and inflammation. Gut microbiota regulates the immune system and causes at least in part type 2 diabetes. We here evaluated whether liraglutide regulates T2D through both gut microbiota and immunity in dysmetabolic mice. METHODS: Diet-induced dysmetabolic mice were treated for 14 days with intraperitoneal injection of liraglutide (100 µg/kg) or with vehicle or Exendin 4 (10 µg/kg) as controls. Various metabolic parameters, the intestinal immune cells were characterized and the 16SrDNA gene sequenced from the gut. The causal role of gut microbiota was shown using large spectrum antibiotics and by colonization of germ-free mice with the gut microbiota from treated mice. RESULTS: Besides, the expected metabolic impacts liraglutide treatment induced a specific gut microbiota specific signature when compared to vehicle or Ex4-treated mice. However, liraglutide only increased glucose-induced insulin secretion, reduced the frequency of Th1 lymphocytes, and increased that of TReg in the intestine. These effects were abolished by a concomitant antibiotic treatment. Colonization of germ-free mice with gut microbiota from liraglutide-treated diabetic mice improved glucose-induced insulin secretion and regulated the intestinal immune system differently from what observed in germ-free mice colonized with microbiota from non-treated diabetic mice. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our result demonstrated first the influence of liraglutide on gut microbiota and the intestinal immune system which could at least in part control glucose-induced insulin secretion.

CX3CR1 regulates gut microbiota and metabolism. A risk factor of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: The intestinal microbiota to immune system crosstalk is a major regulator of metabolism and hence metabolic diseases. An impairment of the chemokine receptor CX3CR1, as a key regulator shaping intestinal microbiota under normal chow feeding, could be one of the early events of dysglycemia. METHODS: We studied the gut microbiota ecology by sequencing the gut and tissue microbiota. We studied its role in energy metabolism in CX3CR1-deficent and control mice using various bioassays notably the glycemic regulation during fasting and the respiratory quotient as two highly sensitive physiological features. We used antibiotics and prebiotics treatments, and germ free mouse colonization. RESULTS: We identify that CX3CR1 disruption impairs gut microbiota ecology and identified a specific signature associated to the genotype. The glycemic control during fasting and the respiratory quotient throughout the day are deeply impaired. A selected four-week prebiotic treatment modifies the dysbiotic microbiota and improves the fasting state glycemic control of the CX3CR1-deficent mice and following a glucose tolerance test. A 4 week antibiotic treatment also improves the glycemic control as well. Eventually, germ free mice colonized with the microbiota from CX3CR1-deficent mice developed glucose intolerance. CONCLUSIONS: CX3CR1 is a molecular mechanism in the control of the gut microbiota ecology ensuring the maintenance of a steady glycemia and energy metabolism. Its impairment could be an early mechanism leading to gut microbiota dysbiosis and the onset of metabolic disease.

The PIWI protein Aubergine recruits eIF3 to activate translation in the germ plasm.

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and PIWI proteins are essential in germ cells to repress transposons and regulate mRNAs. In Drosophila, piRNAs bound to the PIWI protein Aubergine (Aub) are transferred maternally to the embryo and regulate maternal mRNA stability through two opposite roles. They target mRNAs by incomplete base pairing, leading to their destabilization in the soma and stabilization in the germ plasm. Here, we report a function of Aub in translation. Aub is required for translational activation of nanos mRNA, a key determinant of the germ plasm. Aub physically interacts with the poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) and the translation initiation factor eIF3. Polysome gradient profiling reveals the role of Aub at the initiation step of translation. In the germ plasm, PABP and eIF3d assemble in foci that surround Aub-containing germ granules, and Aub acts with eIF3d to promote nanos translation. These results identify translational activation as a new mode of mRNA regulation by Aub, highlighting the versatility of PIWI proteins in mRNA regulation.

A Role for Timp3 in Microbiota-Driven Hepatic Steatosis and Metabolic Dysfunction.

The effect of gut microbiota on obesity and insulin resistance is now recognized, but the underlying host-dependent mechanisms remain poorly undefined. We find that tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 knockout (Timp3(-/-)) mice fed a high-fat diet exhibit gut microbiota dysbiosis, an increase in branched chain and aromatic (BCAA) metabolites, liver steatosis, and an increase in circulating soluble IL-6 receptors (sIL6Rs). sIL6Rs can then activate inflammatory cells, such as CD11c(+) cells, which drive metabolic inflammation. Depleting the microbiota through antibiotic treatment significantly improves glucose tolerance, hepatic steatosis, and systemic inflammation, and neutralizing sIL6R signaling reduces inflammation, but only mildly impacts glucose tolerance. Collectively, our results suggest that gut microbiota is the primary driver of the observed metabolic dysfunction, which is mediated, in part, through IL-6 signaling. Our findings also identify an important role for Timp3 in mediating the effect of the microbiota in metabolic diseases.

Probiotic B420 and prebiotic polydextrose improve efficacy of antidiabetic drugs in mice.

BACKGROUND: Gut microbiota is now known to control glucose metabolism. Previous studies have shown that probiotics and prebiotics may improve glucose metabolism, but their effects have not been studied in combination with drug therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether probiotics and prebiotics combined with drug therapy affect diabetic outcomes. METHODS: Two different study designs were used to test gut microbiota modulating treatments with metformin (MET) or sitagliptin (SITA) in male C57Bl/6J mice. In Design 1, diabetes was induced with four-week feeding with a ketogenic, 72 kcal% fat diet with virtually no carbohydrates. Mice were then randomly divided into four groups (n = 10 in each group): (1) vehicle, (2) Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis 420 (B420) (10(9) CFU/day), (3) MET (2 mg/mL in drinking water), or (4) MET + B420 (same doses as in the MET and B420 groups). After another 4 weeks, glucose metabolism was assessed with a glucose tolerance test. Fasting glucose, fasting insulin and HOMA-IR were also assessed. In Design 2, mice were fed the same 72 kcal% fat diet to induce diabetes, but they were simultaneously treated within their respective groups (n = 8 in each group): (1) non-diabetic healthy control, (2) vehicle, (3) SITA [3 mg/(kg*day)] (4) SITA with prebiotic polydextrose (PDX) (0.25 g/day), (5) SITA with B420 (10(9) CFU/day), and (6) SITA + PDX + B420. Glucose metabolism was assessed at 4 weeks, and weight development was monitored for 6 weeks. RESULTS: In Design 1, with low-dose metformin, mice treated with B420 had a significantly lower glycemic response (area under the curve) (factorial experiment, P = 0.002) and plasma glucose concentration (P = 0.02) compared to mice not treated with B420. In Design 2, SITA + PDX reduced glycaemia in the oral glucose tolerance test significantly more than SITA only (area under the curve reduced 28 %, P < 0.0001). In addition, B420, PDX or B420+PDX, together with SITA, further decreased fasting glucose concentrations compared to SITA only (-19.5, -40 and -49 %, respectively, P < 0.01 for each comparison). The effect of PDX may be due to its ability to increase portal vein GLP-1 concentrations together with SITA (P = 0.0001 compared to vehicle) whereas SITA alone had no statistically significant effect compared to vehicle (P = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS: This study proposes that combining probiotics and/or prebiotics with antidiabetic drugs improves glycemic control and insulin sensitivity in mice. Mechanisms could be related to incretin secretion.

Defective NOD2 peptidoglycan sensing promotes diet-induced inflammation, dysbiosis, and insulin resistance.

Pattern recognition receptors link metabolite and bacteria-derived inflammation to insulin resistance during obesity. We demonstrate that NOD2 detection of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan (PGN) regulates metabolic inflammation and insulin sensitivity. An obesity-promoting high-fat diet (HFD) increased NOD2 in hepatocytes and adipocytes, and NOD2(-/-) mice have increased adipose tissue and liver inflammation and exacerbated insulin resistance during a HFD. This effect is independent of altered adiposity or NOD2 in hematopoietic-derived immune cells. Instead, increased metabolic inflammation and insulin resistance in NOD2(-/-) mice is associated with increased commensal bacterial translocation from the gut into adipose tissue and liver. An intact PGN-NOD2 sensing system regulated gut mucosal bacterial colonization and a metabolic tissue dysbiosis that is a potential trigger for increased metabolic inflammation and insulin resistance. Gut dysbiosis in HFD-fed NOD2(-/-) mice is an independent and transmissible factor that contributes to metabolic inflammation and insulin resistance when transferred to WT, germ-free mice. These findings warrant scrutiny of bacterial component detection, dysbiosis, and protective immune responses in the links between inflammatory gut and metabolic diseases, including diabetes.

Changes in lipoprotein kinetics associated with type 2 diabetes affect the distribution of lipopolysaccharides among lipoproteins.

CONTEXT: Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are inflammatory components of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and, in plasma, are mostly associated with lipoproteins. This association is thought to promote their catabolism while reducing their proinflammatory effects. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to determine the impact of lipoprotein kinetics on plasma LPS distribution and how it may affect patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). DESIGN: We performed a kinetic study in 30 individuals (16 T2DM patients, 14 controls) and analyzed the impact of changes in lipoprotein kinetics on LPS distribution among lipoproteins. RESULTS: Plasma LPS levels in T2DM patients were not different from those in controls, but LPS distribution in the two groups was different. Patients with T2DM had higher LPS-very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL; 31% ± 7% vs 22% ± 11%, P = .002), LPS-high-density lipoprotein (HDL; 29% ± 9% vs 19% ± 10%, P = .015), free (nonlipoprotein bound) LPS (10% ± 4% vs 7% ± 4%, P = .043) and lower LPS-low-density lipoprotein (LDL; 30% ± 13% vs 52% ± 16%, P = .001). In multivariable analysis, VLDL-LPS was associated with HDL-LPS (P < .0001); LDL-LPS was associated with VLDL-LPS (P = .004), and VLDL apolipoprotein (apo) B100 catabolism (P = .002); HDL-LPS was associated with free LPS (P < .0001) and VLDL-LPS (P = .033); free LPS was associated with HDL-LPS (P < .0001). In a patient featuring a dramatic decrease in VLDL catabolism due to apoA-V mutation, LDL-LPS was severely decreased (0.044 EU/mL vs 0.788 EU/mL in controls). The difference between T2DM patients and controls for LDL-LPS fraction was no longer significant after controlling for VLDL apoB100 total fractional catabolic rate. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that in humans, free LPS transfers first to HDL and then to VLDL, whereas the LPS-bound LDL fraction is mainly derived from VLDL catabolism; the latter may hence represent a LPS catabolic pathway. T2DM patients show lower LDL-LPS secondary to reduced VLDL catabolism, which may represent an impaired catabolic pathway.

Blood microbiota dysbiosis is associated with the onset of cardiovascular events in a large general population: the D.E.S.I.R. study.

AIM: We recently described a human blood microbiome and a connection between this microbiome and the onset of diabetes. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between blood microbiota and incident cardiovascular disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: D.E.S.I.R. is a longitudinal study with the primary aim of describing the natural history of the metabolic syndrome and its complications. Participants were evaluated at inclusion and at 3-, 6-, and 9-yearly follow-up visits. The 16S ribosomal DNA bacterial gene sequence, that is common to the vast majority of bacteria (Eubac) and a sequence that mostly represents Proteobacteria (Pbac), were measured in blood collected at baseline from 3936 participants. 73 incident cases of acute cardiovascular events, including 30 myocardial infarctions were recorded. Eubac was positively correlated with Pbac (r = 0.59; P<0.0001). In those destined to have cardiovascular complications, Eubac was lower (0.14±0.26 vs 0.12±0.29 ng/µl; P = 0.02) whereas a non significant increase in Pbac was observed. In multivariate Cox analysis, Eubac was inversely correlated with the onset of cardiovascular complications, (hazards ratio 0.50 95% CI 0.35-0.70) whereas Pbac (1.56, 95%CI 1.12-2.15) was directly correlated. CONCLUSION: Pbac and Eubac were shown to be independent markers of the risk of cardiovascular disease. This finding is evidence for the new concept of the role played by blood microbiota dysbiosis on atherothrombotic disease. This concept may help to elucidate the relation between bacteria and cardiovascular disease.

Physiological and pharmacological mechanisms through which the DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin regulates glycemia in mice.

Inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) activity improves glucose homeostasis through a mode of action related to the stabilization of the active forms of DPP-4-sensitive hormones such as the incretins that enhance glucose-induced insulin secretion. However, the DPP-4 enzyme is highly expressed on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells; hence, the role of intestinal vs. systemic DPP-4 remains unclear. To analyze mechanisms through which the DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin regulates glycemia in mice, we administered low oral doses of the DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin that selectively reduced DPP-4 activity in the intestine. Glp1r(-/-) and Gipr(-/-) mice were studied and glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor (GLP-1R) signaling was blocked by an i.v. infusion of the corresponding receptor antagonist exendin (9-39). The role of the dipeptides His-Ala and Tyr-Ala as DPP-4-generated GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) degradation products was studied in vivo and in vitro on isolated islets. We demonstrate that very low doses of oral sitagliptin improve glucose tolerance and plasma insulin levels with selective reduction of intestinal but not systemic DPP-4 activity. The glucoregulatory action of sitagliptin was associated with increased vagus nerve activity and was diminished in wild-type mice treated with the GLP-1R antagonist exendin (9-39) and in Glp1r(-/-) and Gipr(-/-) mice. Furthermore, the dipeptides liberated from GLP-1 (His-Ala) and GIP (Tyr-Ala) deteriorated glucose tolerance, reduced insulin, and increased portal glucagon levels. The predominant mechanism through which DPP-4 inhibitors regulate glycemia involves local inhibition of intestinal DPP-4 activity, activation of incretin receptors, reduced liberation of bioactive dipeptides, and activation of the gut-to-pancreas neural axis.

Rituximab antiproliferative effect in B-lymphoma cells is associated with acid-sphingomyelinase activation in raft microdomains.

Rituximab is a chimeric human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody with significant activity against CD20+ malignant B cells. Rituximab is currently used with success in the treatment of B-cell-derived lymphoid neoplasias either alone or in combination with chemotherapy. However, the predominant mechanism by which rituximab exerts its antitumor properties in vivo remains unknown. In the present study, we demonstrate that in Daudi and RL B-lymphoma cells, rituximab (without cross-linking) used at the saturating dose of 10 microg/mL induced moderate accumulation in G1 phase, growth inhibition, and significant loss in clonogenic potential. However, in these cells, rituximab induced no apoptosis. Furthermore, we observed that treatment with rituximab resulted in a rapid and transient increase in acid-sphingomyelinase (A-SMase) activity and concomitant cellular ceramide (CER) generation in raft microdomains. We also observed that rituximab-treated cells externalized both A-SMase and CER that colocalized with the CD20 receptor. Finally, we present evidence that rituximab-induced growth inhibition may be mediated through a CER-triggered signaling pathway, leading to the induction of cell cycle-dependent kinase inhibitors such as p27Kip1 through a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent mechanism.