Two-hit mouse model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction combining diet-induced obesity and renin-mediated hypertension.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is increasingly common but its pathogenesis is poorly understood. The ability to assess genetic and pharmacologic interventions is hampered by the lack of robust preclinical mouse models of HFpEF. We have developed a novel "2-hit" model, which combines obesity and insulin resistance with chronic pressure overload to recapitulate clinical features of HFpEF. C57BL6/NJ mice fed a high fat diet for >10 weeks were administered an AAV8-driven vector resulting in constitutive overexpression of mouse Renin1d . Control mice, HFD only, Renin only and HFD-Renin (aka "HFpEF") littermates underwent a battery of cardiac and extracardiac phenotyping. HFD-Renin mice demonstrated obesity and insulin resistance, a 2-3-fold increase in circulating renin levels that resulted in 30-40% increase in left ventricular hypertrophy, preserved systolic function, and diastolic dysfunction indicated by altered E/e', IVRT, and strain measurements; increased left atrial mass; elevated natriuretic peptides; and exercise intolerance. Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling of HFD-Renin myocardium demonstrated upregulation of pro-fibrotic pathways and downregulation of metabolic pathways, in particular branched chain amino acid catabolism, similar to findings in human HFpEF. Treatment of these mice with the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor empagliflozin, an effective but incompletely understood HFpEF therapy, improved exercise tolerance, left heart enlargement, and insulin homeostasis. The HFD-Renin mouse model recapitulates key features of human HFpEF and will enable studies dissecting the contribution of individual pathogenic drivers to this complex syndrome. Addition of HFD-Renin mice to the preclinical HFpEF model platform allows for orthogonal studies to increase validity in assessment of interventions. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a complex disease to study due to limited preclinical models. We rigorously characterize a new two-hit HFpEF mouse model, which allows for dissecting individual contributions and synergy of major pathogenic drivers, hypertension and diet-induced obesity. The results are consistent and reproducible in two independent laboratories. This high-fidelity pre-clinical model increases the available, orthogonal models needed to improve our understanding of the causes and assessment treatments for HFpEF.

Coupling Mixed Mode Chromatography/ESI Negative MS Detection with Message-Passing Neural Network Modeling for Enhanced Metabolome Coverage and Structural Identification.

A key unmet need in metabolomics continues to be the specific, selective, accurate detection of traditionally difficult to retain molecules including simple sugars, sugar phosphates, carboxylic acids, and related amino acids. Designed to retain the metabolites of central carbon metabolism, this Mixed Mode (MM) chromatography applies varied pH, salt concentration and organic content to a positively charged quaternary amine polyvinyl alcohol stationary phase. This MM method is capable of separating glucose from fructose, and four hexose monophosphates a single chromatographic run. Coupled to a QExactive Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer with negative ESI, linearity, LLOD, %CV, and mass accuracy were assessed using 33 metabolite standards. The standards were linear on average >3 orders of magnitude (R2 > 0.98 for 30/33) with LLOD < 1 pmole (26/33), median CV of 12% over two weeks, and median mass accuracy of 0.49 ppm. To assess the breadth of metabolome coverage and better define the structural elements dictating elution, we injected 607 unique metabolites and determined that 398 are well retained. We then split the dataset of 398 documented RTs into training and test sets and trained a message-passing neural network (MPNN) to predict RT from a featurized heavy atom connectivity graph. Unlike traditional QSAR methods that utilize hand-crafted descriptors or pre-defined structural keys, the MPNN aggregates atomic features across the molecular graph and learns to identify molecular subgraphs that are correlated with variations in RTs. For sugars, sugar phosphates, carboxylic acids, and isomers, the model achieves a predictive RT error of <2 min on 91%, 50%, 77%, and 72% of held-out compounds from these subsets, with overall root mean square errors of 0.11, 0.34, 0.18, and 0.53 min, respectively. The model was then applied to rank order metabolite IDs for molecular features altered by GLS2 knockout in mouse primary hepatocytes.

Factors that influence parents' intentions of using autonomous vehicles to transport children to and from school.

High-level autonomous vehicles (AVs) are likely to improve the quality of children's travel to and from school (such as improve travel safety and increase travel mobility). These expected benefits will not be presented if parents are not willing to use AVs. Therefore, it is necessary to explore parents' intentions of using AVs to transport children to and from school (parents' intentions). This study has two primary aims: 1) Exploring parents' intentions and their potential determinants. 2) Making recommendations for manufacturers to develop and market AVs suitable for school travel based on the research results. Research results show that face consciousness with Chinese characteristics can significantly affect parents' intentions. Knowledge of AVs is the most significant factor in influencing parents' intentions. Perceived usefulness, attitude towards school travel in AVs, and perceived risk can significantly affect parents' intentions. The direct impact of perceived ease of use and public engagement on parents' intentions is not significant. Finally, this research could provide decision-making support for governments and manufacturers to formulate relevant policies and marketing strategies, promoting parents' acceptance of AVs.

Publisher Correction: Targeting hepatic glutaminase activity to ameliorate hyperglycemia.

In the version of this article initially published, the "[13C2]α-ketoglutarate" label on Fig. 1g is incorrect. It should be "[13C5]α-ketoglutarate". Additionally, in Fig. 3b, the "AAV-GFP" group is missing a notation for significance, and in Fig. 3c, the "AAV-GLS2-sh" group is missing a notation for significance. There should be a double asterisk notating significance in both panels. Finally, in the Fig. 4g legend, "[13C6]UDP-glucose" should be "[13C3]UDP-glucose", and in the Fig. 4h legend, "[13C6]hexose" should be "[13C3]hexose". The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of this article.

Activation of Liver AMPK with PF-06409577 Corrects NAFLD and Lowers Cholesterol in Rodent and Primate Preclinical Models.

Dysregulation of hepatic lipid and cholesterol metabolism is a significant contributor to cardiometabolic health, resulting in excessive liver lipid accumulation and ultimately non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Therapeutic activators of the AMP-Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK) have been proposed as a treatment for metabolic diseases; we show that the AMPK ß1-biased activator PF-06409577 is capable of lowering hepatic and systemic lipid and cholesterol levels in both rodent and monkey preclinical models. PF-06409577 is able to inhibit de novo lipid and cholesterol synthesis pathways, and causes a reduction in hepatic lipids and mRNA expression of markers of hepatic fibrosis. These effects require AMPK activity in the hepatocytes. Treatment of hyperlipidemic rats or cynomolgus monkeys with PF-06409577 for 6weeks resulted in a reduction in circulating cholesterol. Together these data suggest that activation of AMPK ß1 complexes with PF-06409577 is capable of impacting multiple facets of liver disease and represents a promising strategy for the treatment of NAFLD and NASH in humans.

Targeting hepatic glutaminase activity to ameliorate hyperglycemia.

Glucagon levels increase under homeostatic, fasting conditions, promoting the release of glucose from the liver by accelerating the breakdown of glycogen (also known as glycogenolysis). Glucagon also enhances gluconeogenic flux, including from an increase in the hepatic consumption of amino acids. In type 2 diabetes, dysregulated glucagon signaling contributes to the elevated hepatic glucose output and fasting hyperglycemia that occur in this condition. Yet, the mechanism by which glucagon stimulates gluconeogenesis remains incompletely understood. Contrary to the prevailing belief that glucagon acts primarily on cytoplasmic and nuclear targets, we find glucagon-dependent stimulation of mitochondrial anaplerotic flux from glutamine that increases the contribution of this amino acid to the carbons of glucose generated during gluconeogenesis. This enhanced glucose production is dependent on protein kinase A (PKA) and is associated with glucagon-stimulated calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum, activation of mitochondrial α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and increased glutaminolysis. Mice with reduced levels of hepatic glutaminase 2 (GLS2), the enzyme that catalyzes the first step in glutamine metabolism, show lower glucagon-stimulated glutamine-to-glucose flux in vivo, and GLS2 knockout results in higher fasting plasma glucagon and glutamine levels with lower fasting blood glucose levels in insulin-resistant conditions. As found in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), human genetic variation in the region of GLS2 is associated with higher fasting plasma glucose; here we show in human cryopreserved primary hepatocytes in vitro that these natural gain-of-function missense mutations in GLS2 result in higher glutaminolysis and glucose production. These data emphasize the importance of gluconeogenesis from glutamine, particularly in pathological states of increased glucagon signaling, while suggesting a possible new therapeutic avenue to treat hyperglycemia.

PTEN is a protein tyrosine phosphatase for IRS1.

The biological function of the PTEN tumor suppressor is mainly attributed to its lipid phosphatase activity. This study demonstrates that mammalian PTEN is a protein tyrosine phosphatase that selectively dephosphorylates insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS1), a mediator of insulin and IGF signals. IGF signaling was defective in cells lacking NEDD4, a PTEN ubiquitin ligase, whereas AKT activation triggered by EGF or serum was unimpaired. Defective IGF signaling caused by NEDD4 deletion, including phosphorylation of IRS1 and AKT, was rescued by PTEN ablation. We demonstrate the nature of PTEN as an IRS1 phosphatase by direct biochemical analysis and cellular reconstitution, showing that NEDD4 supports insulin-mediated glucose metabolism and is required for the proliferation of IGF1 receptor-dependent but not EGF receptor-dependent tumor cells. Thus, PTEN is a protein phosphatase for IRS1, and its antagonism by NEDD4 promotes signaling by IGF and insulin.

Crucial role of the C-terminus of PTEN in antagonizing NEDD4-1-mediated PTEN ubiquitination and degradation.

PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10), a potent tumour suppressor and multifunctional signalling protein, is under intricate regulation. In the present study, we have investigated the mechanism and regulation of PTEN ubiquitination catalysed by NEDD4-1 (neural-precursor-cell-expressed, developmentally down-regulated 4-1), a ubiquitin ligase for PTEN we identified recently. Using the reconstituted assay and cellular analysis, we demonstrated that NEDD4-1-mediated PTEN ubiquitination depends on its intact HECT (homologous to E6-associated protein C-terminus) domain. Instead of using its WW domains (protein-protein interaction domains containing two conserved tryptophan residues) as a protein interaction module, NEDD4-1 interacts with PTEN through its N-terminal region containing a C2 domain as well as the HECT domain. Strikingly, we found that a C-terminal truncated PTEN fragment binds to NEDD4-1 with higher affinity than the full-length PTEN, suggesting an intrinsic inhibitory effect of the PTEN C-terminus on PTEN-NEDD4-1 interaction. Moreover, the C-terminal truncated PTEN is more sensitive to NEDD4-1-mediated ubiquitination and degradation. Therefore the present study reveals that the C-terminus of PTEN plays a critical role in stabilizing PTEN via antagonizing NEDD4-1-induced PTEN protein decay; conversely, truncation of the PTEN C-terminus results in rapid NEDD4-1-mediated PTEN degradation, a possible mechanism accounting for attenuation of PTEN function by certain PTEN mutations in human cancers.