Cholesterol accumulation impairs HIF-1α-dependent immunometabolic reprogramming of LPS-stimulated macrophages by upregulating the NRF2 pathway.

Lipid accumulation in macrophages (Mφs) is a hallmark of atherosclerosis. Yet, how lipid loading modulates Mφ inflammatory responses remains unclear. We endeavored to gain mechanistic insights into how pre-loading with free cholesterol modulates Mφ metabolism upon LPS-induced TLR4 signaling. We found that activities of prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) and factor inhibiting HIF (FIH) are higher in cholesterol loaded Mφs post-LPS stimulation, resulting in impaired HIF-1α stability, transactivation capacity and glycolysis. In RAW264.7 cells expressing mutated HIF-1α proteins resistant to PHDs and FIH activities, cholesterol loading failed to suppress HIF-1α function. Cholesterol accumulation induced oxidative stress that enhanced NRF2 protein stability and triggered a NRF2-mediated antioxidative response prior to and in conjunction with LPS stimulation. LPS stimulation increased NRF2 mRNA and protein expression, but it did not enhance NRF2 protein stability further. NRF2 deficiency in Mφs alleviated the inhibitory effects of cholesterol loading on HIF-1α function. Mutated KEAP1 proteins defective in redox sensing expressed in RAW264.7 cells partially reversed the effects of cholesterol loading on NRF2 activation. Collectively, we showed that cholesterol accumulation in Mφs induces oxidative stress and NRF2 stabilization, which when combined with LPS-induced NRF2 expression leads to enhanced NRF2-mediated transcription that ultimately impairs HIF-1α-dependent glycolytic and inflammatory responses.

Fructose-induced metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells.

Excess dietary fructose consumption has been long proposed as a culprit for the world-wide increase of incidence in metabolic disorders and cancer within the past decades. Understanding that cancer cells can gradually accumulate metabolic mutations in the tumor microenvironment, where glucose is often depleted, this raises the possibility that fructose can be utilized by cancer cells as an alternative source of carbon. Indeed, recent research has increasingly identified various mechanisms that show how cancer cells can metabolize fructose to support their proliferating and migrating needs. In light of this growing interest, this review will summarize the recent advances in understanding how fructose can metabolically reprogram different types of cancer cells, as well as how these metabolic adaptations can positively support cancer cells development and malignancy.

Fructose overconsumption-induced reprogramming of microglia metabolism and function.

The overconsumption of dietary fructose has been proposed as a major culprit for the rise of many metabolic diseases in recent years, yet the relationship between a high fructose diet and neurological dysfunction remains to be explored. Although fructose metabolism mainly takes place in the liver and intestine, recent studies have shown that a hyperglycemic condition could induce fructose metabolism in the brain. Notably, microglia, which are tissue-resident macrophages (Mφs) that confer innate immunity in the brain, also express fructose transporters (GLUT5) and are capable of utilizing fructose as a carbon fuel. Together, these studies suggest the possibility that a high fructose diet can regulate the activation and inflammatory response of microglia by metabolic reprogramming, thereby altering the susceptibility of developing neurological dysfunction. In this review, the recent advances in the understanding of microglia metabolism and how it supports its functions will be summarized. The results from both in vivo and in vitro studies that have investigated the mechanistic link between fructose-induced metabolic reprogramming of microglia and its function will then be reviewed. Finally, areas of controversies and their associated implications, as well as directions that warrant future research will be highlighted.

Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Accumulation in Macrophages Impairs Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Activation of AKT2, ATP Citrate Lyase, Acetyl-Coenzyme A Production, and Inflammatory Gene H3K27 Acetylation.

The accumulation of lipid and the formation of macrophage foam cells is a hallmark of atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease. To better understand the role of macrophage lipid accumulation in inflammation during atherogenesis, we studied early molecular events that follow the accumulation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) in cultured mouse macrophages. We previously showed that oxLDL accumulation downregulates the inflammatory response in conjunction with downregulation of late-phase glycolysis. In this study, we show that within hours after LPS stimulation, macrophages with accumulated oxLDL maintain early-phase glycolysis but selectively downregulate activation of AKT2, one of three AKT isoforms. The inhibition of AKT2 activation reduced LPS-induced ATP citrate lyase activation, acetyl-CoA production, and acetylation of histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27ac) in certain inflammatory gene promoters. In contrast to oxLDL, multiple early LPS-induced signaling pathways were inhibited in macrophages with accumulated cholesterol, including TBK1, AKT1, AKT2, MAPK, and NF-κB, and early-phase glycolysis. The selective inhibition of LPS-induced AKT2 activation was dependent on the generation of mitochondrial oxygen radicals during the accumulation of oxLDL in macrophages prior to LPS stimulation. This is consistent with increased oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid synthesis, and oxidation pathways found by comparative transcriptomic analyses of oxLDL-loaded versus control macrophages. Our study shows a functional connection between oxLDL accumulation, inactivation of AKT2, and the inhibition of certain inflammatory genes through epigenetic changes that occur soon after LPS stimulation, independent of early-phase glycolysis.

The multi-faceted role of NADPH in regulating inflammation in activated myeloid cells.

Recent advances in the immunometabolism field have demonstrated the importance of metabolites in fine-tuning the inflammatory responses in myeloid cells. Cofactors, which are metabolites comprised of inorganic ions and organic molecules, may tightly or loosely bind to distinct sites of enzymes to catalyze a specific reaction. Since many enzymes that mediate inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes require the same cofactors to function, this raises the possibility that under conditions where the abundance of these cofactors is limited, inflammatory and anti-inflammatory enzymes must compete with each other for the consumption of cofactors. Thus, this competition may reflect a naturally evolved mechanism to efficiently co-regulate inflammatory versus anti-inflammatory pathways, fine-tuning the extent of an inflammatory response. The role of NADPH, the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+), in mediating inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses in activated myeloid cells has been well-established in the past decades. However, how the dynamic of NADPH consumption mediates the co-regulation between individual inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways is only beginning to be appreciated. In this review, we will summarize the established roles of NADPH in supporting inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways, as well as highlight how the competition for NADPH consumption by these opposing pathways fine-tunes the inflammatory response in activated myeloid cells.

Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Accumulation Suppresses Glycolysis and Attenuates the Macrophage Inflammatory Response by Diverting Transcription from the HIF-1α to the Nrf2 Pathway.

Lipid accumulation in macrophages (Mφs) is a hallmark of atherosclerosis, yet how lipid accumulation affects inflammatory responses through rewiring of Mφ metabolism is poorly understood. We modeled lipid accumulation in cultured wild-type mouse thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal Mφs and bone marrow-derived Mφs with conditional (Lyz2-Cre) or complete genetic deficiency of Vhl, Hif1a, Nos2, and Nfe2l2. Transfection studies employed RAW264.7 cells. Mφs were cultured for 24 h with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) or cholesterol and then were stimulated with LPS. Transcriptomics revealed that oxLDL accumulation in Mφs downregulated inflammatory, hypoxia, and cholesterol metabolism pathways, whereas the antioxidant pathway, fatty acid oxidation, and ABC family proteins were upregulated. Metabolomics and extracellular metabolic flux assays showed that oxLDL accumulation suppressed LPS-induced glycolysis. Intracellular lipid accumulation in Mφs impaired LPS-induced inflammation by reducing both hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α (HIF-1α) stability and transactivation capacity; thus, the phenotype was not rescued in Vhl-/- Mφs. Intracellular lipid accumulation in Mφs also enhanced LPS-induced NF erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated antioxidative defense that destabilizes HIF-1α, and Nrf2-deficient Mφs resisted the inhibitory effects of lipid accumulation on glycolysis and inflammatory gene expression. Furthermore, oxLDL shifted NADPH consumption from HIF-1α- to Nrf2-regulated apoenzymes. Thus, we postulate that repurposing NADPH consumption from HIF-1α to Nrf2 transcriptional pathways is critical in modulating inflammatory responses in Mφs with accumulated intracellular lipid. The relevance of our in vitro models was established by comparative transcriptomic analyses, which revealed that Mφs cultured with oxLDL and stimulated with LPS shared similar inflammatory and metabolic profiles with foamy Mφs derived from the atherosclerotic mouse and human aorta.

The PKN1- TRAF1 signaling axis as a potential new target for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

TRAF1 is a pro-survival adaptor molecule in TNFR superfamily (TNFRSF) signaling. TRAF1 is overexpressed in many B cell cancers including refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Little has been done to assess the role of TRAF1 in human cancer. Here we show that the protein kinase C related kinase Protein Kinase N1 (PKN1) is required to protect TRAF1 from cIAP-mediated degradation during constitutive CD40 signaling in lymphoma. We show that the active phospho-Thr774 form of PKN1 is constitutively expressed in CLL but minimally detected in unstimulated healthy donor B cells. Through a screen of 700 kinase inhibitors, we identified two inhibitors, OTSSP167, and XL-228, that inhibited PKN1 in the nanomolar range and induced dose-dependent loss of TRAF1 in RAJI cells. OTSSP167 or XL-228 treatment of primary patient CLL samples led to a reduction in TRAF1, pNF-κB p65, pS6, pERK, Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 proteins, and induction of activated caspase-3. OTSSP167 synergized with venetoclax in inducing CLL death, correlating with loss of TRAF1, Mcl-1, and Bcl-2. Although correlative, these findings suggest the PKN1-TRAF1 signaling axis as a potential new target for CLL. These findings also suggest the use of the orally available inhibitor OTSSP167 in combination treatment with venetoclax for TRAF1 overexpressing CLL.

The Candida albicans transcription factor Cas5 couples stress responses, drug resistance and cell cycle regulation.

The capacity to coordinate environmental sensing with initiation of cellular responses underpins microbial survival and is crucial for virulence and stress responses in microbial pathogens. Here we define circuitry that enables the fungal pathogen Candida albicans to couple cell cycle dynamics with responses to cell wall stress induced by echinocandins, a front-line class of antifungal drugs. We discover that the C. albicans transcription factor Cas5 is crucial for proper cell cycle dynamics and responses to echinocandins, which inhibit ß-1,3-glucan synthesis. Cas5 has distinct transcriptional targets under basal and stress conditions, is activated by the phosphatase Glc7, and can regulate the expression of target genes in concert with the transcriptional regulators Swi4 and Swi6. Thus, we illuminate a mechanism of transcriptional control that couples cell wall integrity with cell cycle regulation, and uncover circuitry governing antifungal drug resistance.Cas5 is a transcriptional regulator of responses to cell wall stress in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Here, Xie et al. show that Cas5 also modulates cell cycle dynamics and responses to antifungal drugs.

Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) Infection Induces Proliferation through Enhancer of Zeste Homologue 2 (EZH2).

UNLABELLED: Host-pathogen interactions can induce epigenetic changes in the host directly, as well as indirectly through secreted factors. Previously, uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) was shown to increase DNA methyltransferase activity and expression, which was associated with methylation-dependent alterations in the urothelial expression of CDKN2A. Here, we showed that paracrine factors from infected cells alter expression of another epigenetic writer, EZH2, coordinate with proliferation. Urothelial cells were inoculated with UPEC, UPEC derivatives, or vehicle (mock infection) at low moi, washed, then maintained in media with Gentamycin. Urothelial conditioned media (CM) and extracellular vesicles (EV) were isolated after the inoculations and used to treat naïve urothelial cells. EZH2 increased with UPEC infection, inoculation-induced CM, and inoculation-induced EV vs. parallel stimulation derived from mock-inoculated urothelial cells. We found that infection also increased proliferation at one day post-infection, which was blocked by the EZH2 inhibitor UNC1999. Inhibition of demethylation at H3K27me3 had the opposite effect and augmented proliferation. CONCLUSION: Uropathogen-induced paracrine factors act epigenetically by altering expression of EZH2, which plays a key role in early host cell proliferative responses to infection.