Methionine supplementation stimulates mitochondrial respiration.

Mitochondria play essential metabolic functions in eukaryotes. Although their major role is the generation of energy in the form of ATP, they are also involved in maintenance of cellular redox state, conversion and biosynthesis of metabolites and signal transduction. Most mitochondrial functions are conserved in eukaryotic systems and mitochondrial dysfunctions trigger several human diseases. By using multi-omics approach, we investigate the effect of methionine supplementation on yeast cellular metabolism, considering its role in the regulation of key cellular processes. Methionine supplementation induces an up-regulation of proteins related to mitochondrial functions such as TCA cycle, electron transport chain and respiration, combined with an enhancement of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake and TCA cycle activity. This metabolic signature is more noticeable in cells lacking Snf1/AMPK, the conserved signalling regulator of energy homeostasis. Remarkably, snf1Δ cells strongly depend on mitochondrial respiration and suppression of pyruvate transport is detrimental for this mutant in methionine condition, indicating that respiration mostly relies on pyruvate flux into mitochondrial pathways. These data provide new insights into the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism and extends our understanding on the role of methionine in regulating energy signalling pathways.

Snf1/AMPK is involved in the mitotic spindle alignment in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Before anaphase onset, budding yeast cells must align the mitotic spindle parallel to the mother-bud axis to ensure proper chromosome segregation. The protein kinase Snf1/AMPK is a highly conserved energy sensor, essential for adaptation to glucose limitation and in response to cellular stresses. However, recent findings indicate that it plays important functions also in non-limiting glucose conditions. Here we report a novel role of Snf1/AMPK in the progression through mitosis in glucose-repressing condition. We show that active Snf1 is localized to the bud neck from bud emergence to cytokinesis in a septin-dependent manner. In addition, loss of Snf1 induces a delay of the metaphase to anaphase transition that is due to a defect in the correct alignment of the mitotic spindle. In particular, genetic data indicate that Snf1 promotes spindle orientation acting in parallel with Dyn1 and in concert with Kar9. Altogether this study describes a new role for Snf1 in mitosis and connects cellular metabolism to mitosis progression.

Snf1 Phosphorylates Adenylate Cyclase and Negatively Regulates Protein Kinase A-dependent Transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In eukaryotes, nutrient availability and metabolism are coordinated by sensing mechanisms and signaling pathways, which influence a broad set of cellular functions such as transcription and metabolic pathways to match environmental conditions. In yeast, PKA is activated in the presence of high glucose concentrations, favoring fast nutrient utilization, shutting down stress responses, and boosting growth. On the contrary, Snf1/AMPK is activated in the presence of low glucose or alternative carbon sources, thus promoting an energy saving program through transcriptional activation and phosphorylation of metabolic enzymes. The PKA and Snf1/AMPK pathways share common downstream targets. Moreover, PKA has been reported to negatively influence the activation of Snf1/AMPK. We report a new cross-talk mechanism with a Snf1-dependent regulation of the PKA pathway. We show that Snf1 and adenylate cyclase (Cyr1) interact in a nutrient-independent manner. Moreover, we identify Cyr1 as a Snf1 substrate and show that Snf1 activation state influences Cyr1 phosphorylation pattern, cAMP intracellular levels, and PKA-dependent transcription.

Enhanced amino acid utilization sustains growth of cells lacking Snf1/AMPK.

The metabolism of proliferating cells shows common features even in evolutionary distant organisms such as mammals and yeasts, for example the requirement for anabolic processes under tight control of signaling pathways. Analysis of the rewiring of metabolism, which occurs following the dysregulation of signaling pathways, provides new knowledge about the mechanisms underlying cell proliferation. The key energy regulator in yeast Snf1 and its mammalian ortholog AMPK have earlier been shown to have similar functions at glucose limited conditions and here we show that they also have analogies when grown with glucose excess. We show that loss of Snf1 in cells growing in 2% glucose induces an extensive transcriptional reprogramming, enhances glycolytic activity, fatty acid accumulation and reliance on amino acid utilization for growth. Strikingly, we demonstrate that Snf1/AMPK-deficient cells remodel their metabolism fueling mitochondria and show glucose and amino acids addiction, a typical hallmark of cancer cells.

Post-translational modifications on yeast carbon metabolism: Regulatory mechanisms beyond transcriptional control.

BACKGROUND: Yeast cells have developed a variety of mechanisms to regulate the activity of metabolic enzymes in order to adjust their metabolism in response to genetic and environmental perturbations. This can be achieved by a massive reprogramming of gene expression. However, the transcriptional response cannot explain the complexity of metabolic regulation, and mRNA stability regulation, non-covalent binding of allosteric effectors and post-translational modifications of enzymes (such as phosphorylation, acetylation and ubiquitination) are also involved, especially as short term responses, all converging in modulating enzyme activity. SCOPE OF REVIEW: The functional significance of post-translational modifications (PTMs) to the regulation of the central carbon metabolism is the subject of this review. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: A genome wide analysis of PTMs indicates that several metabolic enzymes are subjected to multiple PTMs, suggesting that yeast cells can use different modifications and/or combinations of them to specifically respond to environmental changes. Glycolysis and fermentation are the pathways where phosphorylation, acetylation and ubiquitination are most frequent, while enzymes of storage carbohydrate metabolism are especially phosphorylated. Interestingly, some enzymes, such as the 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase Pfk26, the phosphofructokinases Pfk1 and Pfk2 and the pyruvate kinase Cdc19, are hubs of PTMs, thus representing central key regulation nodes. For the functionally better characterized enzymes, the role of phosphorylations and lysine modifications is discussed. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: This review focuses on the regulatory mechanisms of yeast carbon metabolism, highlighting the requirement of quantitative, systematical studies to better understand PTM contribution to metabolic regulation.

Metabolism of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIα-dependent PI4P Is subverted by HCV and is targeted by a 4-anilino quinazoline with antiviral activity.

4-anilino quinazolines have been identified as inhibitors of HCV replication. The target of this class of compounds was proposed to be the viral protein NS5A, although unequivocal proof has never been presented. A 4-anilino quinazoline moiety is often found in kinase inhibitors, leading us to formulate the hypothesis that the anti-HCV activity displayed by these compounds might be due to inhibition of a cellular kinase. Type III phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase α (PI4KIIIα) has recently been identified as a host factor for HCV replication. We therefore evaluated AL-9, a compound prototypical of the 4-anilino quinazoline class, on selected phosphatidylinositol kinases. AL-9 inhibited purified PI4KIIIα and, to a lesser extent, PI4KIIIß. In Huh7.5 cells, PI4KIIIα is responsible for the phosphatidylinositol-4 phosphate (PI4P) pool present in the plasma membrane. Accordingly, we observed a gradual decrease of PI4P in the plasma membrane upon incubation with AL-9, indicating that this agent inhibits PI4KIIIα also in living cells. Conversely, AL-9 did not affect the level of PI4P in the Golgi membrane, suggesting that the PI4KIIIß isoform was not significantly inhibited under our experimental conditions. Incubation of cells expressing HCV proteins with AL-9 induced abnormally large clusters of NS5A, a phenomenon previously observed upon silencing PI4KIIIα by RNA interference. In light of our findings, we propose that the antiviral effect of 4-anilino quinazoline compounds is mediated by the inhibition of PI4KIIIα and the consequent depletion of PI4P required for the HCV membranous web. In addition, we noted that HCV has a profound effect on cellular PI4P distribution, causing significant enrichment of PI4P in the HCV-membranous web and a concomitant depletion of PI4P in the plasma membrane. This observation implies that HCV--by recruiting PI4KIIIα in the RNA replication complex--hijacks PI4P metabolism, ultimately resulting in a markedly altered subcellular distribution of the PI4KIIIα product.

Nutritional modulation of CK2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: regulating the activity of a constitutive enzyme.

CK2 is a highly conserved protein kinase involved in different cellular processes, which shows a higher activity in actively proliferating mammalian cells and in various types of cancer and cancer cell lines. We recently demonstrated that CK2 activity is strongly influenced by growth rate in yeast cells as well. Here, we extend our previous findings and show that, in cells grown in either glucose or ethanol-supplemented media, CK2 presents no alteration in K(m) for both the ATP and the peptide substrate RRRADDSDDDDD, while a significant increase in V (max) is observed. In chemostat-grown cells, no difference of CK2 activity was observed in cells grown at the same dilution rate in media supplemented with either ethanol or glucose, excluding the contribution of carbon metabolism on CK2 activity. By using the eIF2ß-derived peptide, which can be phosphorylated by the holoenzyme but not by the free catalytic subunits, we show that the holoenzyme activity requires the concurrent presence of both ß and ß' encoding genes. Finally, conditions of nitrogen deprivation leading to a G0-like arrest result in a decrease of total CK2 activity, but have no effect on the activity of the holoenzyme. These findings newly indicate a regulatory role of ß and ß' subunits of CK2 in the nutrient response.

CK2 activity is modulated by growth rate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

CK2 is a highly conserved protein kinase controlling different cellular processes. It shows a higher activity in proliferating mammalian cells, in various types of cancer cell lines and tumors. The findings presented herein provide the first evidence of an in vivo modulation of CK2 activity, dependent on growth rate, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In fact, CK2 activity, assayed on nuclear extracts, is shown to increase in exponential growing batch cultures at faster growth rate, while localization of catalytic and regulatory subunits is not nutritionally modulated. Differences in intracellular CK2 activity of glucose- and ethanol-grown cells appear to depend on both increase in molecule number and k(cat). Also in chemostat cultures nuclear CK2 activity is higher in faster growing cells providing the first unequivocal demonstration that growth rate itself can affect CK2 activity in a eukaryotic organism.