Dietary spermidine improves cognitive function.

Decreased cognitive performance is a hallmark of brain aging, but the underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic avenues remain poorly understood. Recent studies have revealed health-protective and lifespan-extending effects of dietary spermidine, a natural autophagy-promoting polyamine. Here, we show that dietary spermidine passes the blood-brain barrier in mice and increases hippocampal eIF5A hypusination and mitochondrial function. Spermidine feeding in aged mice affects behavior in homecage environment tasks, improves spatial learning, and increases hippocampal respiratory competence. In a Drosophila aging model, spermidine boosts mitochondrial respiratory capacity, an effect that requires the autophagy regulator Atg7 and the mitophagy mediators Parkin and Pink1. Neuron-specific Pink1 knockdown abolishes spermidine-induced improvement of olfactory associative learning. This suggests that the maintenance of mitochondrial and autophagic function is essential for enhanced cognition by spermidine feeding. Finally, we show large-scale prospective data linking higher dietary spermidine intake with a reduced risk for cognitive impairment in humans.

Effects of the Extracellular Matrix on the Proteome of Primary Skin Fibroblasts.

The cellular microenvironment often plays a crucial role in disease development and progression. In recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), biallelic mutations of the gene COL7A1, encoding for collagen VII, the main component of anchoring fibrils, lead to a loss of collagen VII in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Loss of collagen VII in skin is linked to a destabilization of the dermal-epidermal junction zone, blister formation, chronic wounds, fibrosis, and aggressive skin cancer. Thus, RDEB cells can serve as a model system to study the effects of a perturbed ECM on the cellular proteome. In this chapter, we describe in detail the combination of stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) of primary skin fibroblasts with reseeding of fibroblasts on decellularized collagen VII-positive and -negative ECM to study the consequences of collagen VII loss on the cellular proteome. This approach allows the quantitative, time-resolved analysis of cellular protein dynamics in response to ECM perturbation by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Treatment of keratinocytes with 4-phenylbutyrate in epidermolysis bullosa: Lessons for therapies in keratin disorders.

BACKGROUND: Missense mutations in keratin 5 and 14 genes cause the severe skin fragility disorder epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) by collapsing of the keratin cytoskeleton into cytoplasmic protein aggregates. Despite intense efforts, no molecular therapies are available, mostly due to the complex phenotype of EBS, comprising cell fragility, diminished adhesion, skin inflammation and itch. METHODS: We extensively characterized KRT5 and KRT14 mutant keratinocytes from patients with severe generalized EBS following exposure to the chemical chaperone 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA). FINDINGS: 4-PBA diminished keratin aggregates within EBS cells and ameliorated their inflammatory phenotype. Chemoproteomics of 4-PBA-treated and untreated EBS cells revealed reduced IL1ß expression- but also showed activation of Wnt/ß-catenin and NF-kB pathways. The abundance of extracellular matrix and cytoskeletal proteins was significantly altered, coinciding with diminished keratinocyte adhesion and migration in a 4-PBA dose-dependent manner. INTERPRETATION: Together, our study reveals a complex interplay of benefits and disadvantages that challenge the use of 4-PBA in skin fragility disorders.

Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Conditions Affect the Proteome of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts.

In vitro cell culture systems are an invaluable tool for cell biological research to study molecular pathways and to characterize processes critical in human pathophysiology. However, the experimental conditions in two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures often differ substantially from the in vivo situation, which continuously raises concerns about the reliability and conferrability of the obtained results. Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures have been shown to closer mimic in vivo conditions and are commonly employed, for example, in pharmacological screens. Here, we introduce a 3D cell culture system based on a mixture of collagen I and matrigel amenable to stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics analyses. We study the extra- and intracellular proteomic response of skin fibroblast isolated from healthy volunteers in comparison to cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) on 3D culture conditions. Both, control cells and CAF, change their proteomic composition based on the culture conditions. Critically, cell type differences observed in 2D are often not preserved in 3D, which commonly closer resemble phenotypes observed in vivo. Especially, extracellular matrix and plasma membrane proteins are differentially regulated in 2D versus 3D.

A systems study reveals concurrent activation of AMPK and mTOR by amino acids.

Amino acids (aa) are not only building blocks for proteins, but also signalling molecules, with the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) acting as a key mediator. However, little is known about whether aa, independently of mTORC1, activate other kinases of the mTOR signalling network. To delineate aa-stimulated mTOR network dynamics, we here combine a computational-experimental approach with text mining-enhanced quantitative proteomics. We report that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) are acutely activated by aa-readdition in an mTORC1-independent manner. AMPK activation by aa is mediated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase ß (CaMKKß). In response, AMPK impinges on the autophagy regulators Unc-51-like kinase-1 (ULK1) and c-Jun. AMPK is widely recognized as an mTORC1 antagonist that is activated by starvation. We find that aa acutely activate AMPK concurrently with mTOR. We show that AMPK under aa sufficiency acts to sustain autophagy. This may be required to maintain protein homoeostasis and deliver metabolite intermediates for biosynthetic processes.