PubMed

Related Articles QTL mapping of insect resistance components of Solanum galapagense. Theor Appl Genet. 2018 Nov 23;: Authors: Vosman B, Kashaninia A, Van't Westende W, Meijer-Dekens F, van Eekelen H, Visser RGF, de Vos RCH, Voorrips RE Abstract KEY MESSAGE: QTLs for insect resistance parameters, trichome type IV development, and more than 200 non-volatile metabolites, including 76 acyl sugars, all co-locate at the end of Chromosome 2 of Solanum galapagense. Host plant resistance is gaining importance as more and more insecticides are being banned due to environmental concerns. In tomato, resistance towards insects is found in wild relatives and has been attributed to the presence of glandular trichomes and their specific phytochemical composition. In this paper, we describe the results from a large-scale QTL mapping of data from whitefly resistance tests, trichome phenotyping and a comprehensive metabolomics analysis in a recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between the cultivated Solanum lycopersicum and the wild relative S. galapagense, which is resistant to a range of pest insects. One major QTL (Wf-1) was found to govern the resistance against two different whitefly species. This QTL co-localizes with QTLs for the presence of trichomes type IV and V, as well as all 76 acyl sugars detected and about 150 other non-volatile phytochemicals, including methyl esters of the flavonols myricetin and quercetin. Based on these results, we hypothesize that Wf-1 is regulating the formation of glandular trichome type IV on the leaf epidermis, enabling the production and accumulation of bioactive metabolites in this type of trichomes. PMID: 30470858 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Symbiotic microbes affect the expression of male reproductive genes in Glossina m. morsitans. BMC Microbiol. 2018 Nov 23;18(Suppl 1):169 Authors: Scolari F, Attardo GM, Aksoy E, Weiss B, Savini G, Takac P, Abd-Alla A, Parker AG, Aksoy S, Malacrida AR Abstract BACKGROUND: Tsetse flies (Diptera, Glossinidae) display unique reproductive biology traits. Females reproduce through adenotrophic viviparity, nourishing the growing larva into their modified uterus until parturition. Males transfer their sperm and seminal fluid, produced by both testes and male accessory glands, in a spermatophore capsule transiently formed within the female reproductive tract upon mating. Both sexes are obligate blood feeders and have evolved tight relationships with endosymbionts, already shown to provide essential nutrients lacking in their diet. However, the partnership between tsetse and its symbionts has so far been investigated, at the molecular, genomic and metabolomics level, only in females, whereas the roles of microbiota in male reproduction are still unexplored. RESULTS: Here we begin unravelling the impact of microbiota on Glossina m. morsitans (G. morsitans) male reproductive biology by generating transcriptomes from the reproductive tissues of males deprived of their endosymbionts (aposymbiotic) via maternal antibiotic treatment and dietary supplementation. We then compared the transcriptional profiles of genes expressed in the male reproductive tract of normal and these aposymbiotic flies. We showed that microbiota removal impacts several male reproductive genes by depressing the activity of genes in the male accessory glands (MAGs), including sequences encoding seminal fluid proteins, and increasing expression of genes in the testes. In the MAGs, in particular, the expression of genes related to mating, immunity and seminal fluid components' synthesis is reduced. In the testes, the absence of symbionts activates genes involved in the metabolic apparatus at the basis of male reproduction, including sperm production, motility and function. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings mirrored the complementary roles male accessory glands and testes play in supporting male reproduction and open new avenues for disentangling the interplay between male insects and endosymbionts. From an applied perspective, unravelling the metabolic and functional relationships between tsetse symbionts and male reproductive physiology will provide fundamental information useful to understanding the biology underlying improved male reproductive success in tsetse. This information is of particular importance in the context of tsetse population control via Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and its impact on trypanosomiasis transmission. PMID: 30470198 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles Tear Film Amphiphilic and Anti-Inflammatory Lipids in Bovine Pink Eye. Metabolites. 2018 Nov 21;8(4): Authors: Wood PL, Donohue MN, Cebak JE, Beckmann TG, Treece M, Johnson JW, Miller LMJ Abstract Background: Tear film fluid serves as a dynamic barrier that both lubricates the eye and protects against allergens and infectious agents. However, a detailed analysis of a bacteria-induced immune response on the tear film lipidome has not been undertaken. Methods: We undertook a high-resolution mass spectrometry lipidomics analysis of endogenous anti-inflammatory and structural tear film lipids in bovine pink eye. Results: Bovine pink eye resulted in dramatic elevations in tear fluid levels of the anti-inflammatory lipids resolvin E2, cyclic phosphatidic acid 16:0, and cyclic phosphatidic acid 18:0. In addition, there were elevated levels of the structural lipids (O-acyl)-ω-hydroxy-fatty acids, cholesterol sulfate, ethanolamine plasmalogens, and sphingomyelins. Lipid peroxidation also was augmented in pink eye as evidenced by the hydroperoxy derivatives of ethanolamine plasmalogens. Conclusions: Ocular infections with Moraxella bovis result in the induction of a number of endogenous anti-inflammatory lipids and augmentation of the levels of structural glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Increased levels of hydroperoxy glycerophospholipids also indicate that this bacterial infection results in lipid peroxidation. PMID: 30469369 [PubMed]

Related Articles Metabolic Changes of Amino Acids and Flavonoids in Tea Plants in Response to Inorganic Phosphate Limitation. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Nov 21;19(11): Authors: Kc S, Liu M, Zhang Q, Fan K, Shi Y, Ruan J Abstract The qualities of tea (Camellia sinensis) are not clearly understood in terms of integrated leading molecular regulatory network mechanisms behind inorganic phosphate (Pi) limitation. Thus, the present work aims to elucidate transcription factor-dependent responses of quality-related metabolites and the expression of genes to phosphate (P) starvation. The tea plant organs were subjected to metabolomics analysis by GC×GC-TOF/MS and UPLC-Q-TOF/MS along with transcription factors and 13 metabolic genes by qRT-PCR. We found P starvation upregulated SPX2 and the change response of Pi is highly dependent on young shoots. This led to increased change in abundance of carbohydrates (fructose and glucose), amino acids in leaves (threonine and methionine), and root (phenylalanine, alanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine). Flavonoids and their glycosides accumulated in leaves and root exposed to P limitation was consistent with the upregulated expression of anthocyanidin reductase (EC 1.3.1.77), leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (EC 1.4.11.19) and glycosyltransferases (UGT78D1, UGT78D2 and UGT57L12). Despite the similar kinetics and high correlation response of Pi and SPX2 in young shoots, predominating theanine and other amino acids (serine, threonine, glutamate, valine, methionine, phenylalanine) and catechin (EGC, EGCG and CG) content displayed opposite changes in response to Pi limitation between Fengqing and Longjing-43 tea cultivars. PMID: 30469347 [PubMed - in process]

18 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2018/11/24PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

18 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search. Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results: metabolomics These pubmed results were generated on 2018/11/24PubMed comprises more than millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

Lung inflammation and disease: A perspective on microbial homeostasis and metabolism. IUBMB Life. 2018 Nov 22;: Authors: Mendez R, Banerjee S, Bhattacharya SK, Banerjee S Abstract It is now well appreciated that the human microbiome plays a significant role in a number of processes in the body, significantly affecting its metabolic, inflammatory, and immune homeostasis. Recent research has revealed that almost every mucosal surface in the human body is associated with a resident commensal microbiome of its own. While the gut microbiome and its role in regulation of host metabolism along with its alteration in a disease state has been well studied, there is a lacuna in understanding the resident microbiota of other mucosal surfaces. Among these, the scientific information on the role of lung microbiota in pulmonary diseases is currently severely limited. Historically, lungs have been considered to be sterile and lung diseases have only been studied in the context of bacterial pathogenesis. Recently however, studies have revealed a resilient microbiome in the upper and lower respiratory tracts and there is increased evidence on its central role in respiratory diseases. Knowledge of lung microbiome and its metabolic fallout (local and systemic) is still in its nascent stages and attracting immense interest in recent times. In this review, we will provide a perspective on lung-associated metabolic disorders defined for lung diseases (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and respiratory depression due to infection) and correlate it with lung microbial perturbation. Such perturbations may be due to altered biochemical or metabolic stress as well. Finally, we will draw evidence from microbiome and classical microbiology literature to demonstrate how specific lung morbidities associate with specific metabolic characteristics of the disease, and with the role of microbiome in this context. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 1-14, 2018. PMID: 30466159 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Improving liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry determination of polycarboxylic acids in human urine by chemical derivatization. Comparison of o-benzyl hydroxylamine and 2-picolyl amine. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2018 Nov 03;164:382-394 Authors: Gomez-Gomez A, Soldevila A, Pizarro N, Andreu-Fernandez V, Pozo OJ Abstract Due to its high sensitivity and specificity, liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) could be considered as the gold-standard in targeted metabolomics. Although LC-MS/MS allows for the direct detection of a large number of molecules, the proper quantification of highly polar compounds such as poly-carboxylic acids in complex matrices like urine is still a challenge. Chemical derivatization offers a suitable way to improve chromatographic behavior and sensitivity for these compounds. Several derivatizing agents have been proposed for the LC-MS/MS determination of carboxylic acids but studies dealing with their comparison in challenging scenarios are scarce. Here we present the evaluation of two different derivatization agents; o-benzylhydroxyl amine (oBHA) and 2-picolyl amine (2-PA); for the quantification of the (poly)-carboxylic acids belonging to the tricarboxylic acid cycle in urine. The suitability of both derivatizating agents was compared by validation of the two approaches. Derivatization with oBHA showed important advantages against 2-PA derivatization such as (i) providing better sensitivity, (ii) more stable derivatives and (iii) allowing for the proper validation of a larger number of analytes. Moreover, while 2-PA derivatization failed in the determination of the target analytes in some stored urine samples, oBHA derivatization successfully allowed for their appropriate determination in the same samples. A comparison between the concentrations obtained using oBHA derivatization and those provided by an external laboratory using UV and GC-MS detection revealed a satisfactory agreement between both results. Additionally, the concentrations obtained by the oBHA method for a set of 38 urines are in agreement with those previously reported in the literature. As a conclusion, our results show that the use of oBHA is preferred against 2-PA for the detection and quantification of (poly)-carboxylic acids in urine. PMID: 30466023 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Herb-drug interaction: A case study of effects and involved mechanisms of cisplatin on the pharmacokinetics of ginsenoside Rb1 in tumor-bearing mice. Biomed Pharmacother. 2018 Nov 19;110:95-104 Authors: Zhou J, Wu J, Wu CY, Long F, Shen H, Zhang W, Li SL Abstract Ginseng is often prescribed together with cisplatin for treatment of cancer, but the interaction between ginseng and cisplatin is still unknown. This study employed ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1), one of the major components in ginseng, to explore the effects and involved mechanisms of cisplatin on the pharmacokinetics of ginseng. The effects of cisplatin on the pharmacokinetics of Rb1 and its bioactive metabolites Rd, Rg3, and F2 were investigated by using A549-bearing mice with and without cisplatin intervention. Our data showed that cisplatin could significantly decrease the AUC(0-t) and Cmax of Rd, Rg3, and F2, except Rb1. To evaluate the involved mechanisms, feces and intestinal mucosa were collected to explore the effects of cisplatin on the gut metabolism of Rb1 in vitro; meanwhile, Caco-2 cell model and small intestine histological characters were examined to evaluate the effects of cisplatin on the gut absorptive areas and permeability. The mechanisms involved may be mainly related to the comprehensive contributions of inhibited intestinal bacteria and mucosa metabolisms, narrowed intestinal absorptive area, increased efflux ratio of intestinal absorption and enhanced intestinal permeability. All these findings suggested that the dosage of ginseng traditionally used for health protection should be adjusted when it was prescribed together with cisplatin in the treatment of cancer. PMID: 30466007 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

NMR based metabolomics: An exquisite and facile method for evaluating therapeutic efficacy and screening drug toxicity. Curr Top Med Chem. 2018 Nov 20;: Authors: Guleria A, Kumar A, Kumar U, Raj R, Kumar D Abstract Metabolomics is an analytical approach to metabolism and involves quantitative and comparative analysis of low-molecular-weight metabolites in body fluids or cellular/tissues extracts. Owing to its ability to reveal disease-specific metabolic patterns or metabolic changes produced in response to a therapeutic intervention; it is gaining widespread applications virtually in all aspects of biomedical and pharmaceutical research pertaining to human healthcare management. It has also started playing a strategic role in pharmacological and toxicological research for evaluating therapeutic efficacy/safety of promising drug candidates either alone or in conjunction with other omics tools such as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. The metabolic profiling capabilities of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy along with pattern recognition methods have successfully been applied for identifying diagnostic panel of biomarkers, evaluating drug efficacy/safety, screening toxicity and disease mechanism. Particularly, the interest in applying NMR-based metabolomics for the assessment of therapeutic efficacy and safety is increasing among drug researchers and drug regulators owing to its non-destructive, non-selective and minimal sample preparation requirement. On top of this, it offers the potential for high-throughput (i.e. >100 samples a day is attainable) and provides highly reproducible results. In this review, we will discuss some of the recent developments related to NMR based metabolomics followed by some recent literature examples to highlight its potential in (a) the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy and safety of lead discovery compounds, (b) monitoring disease status and recovery after treatment and (c) identification and evaluation of biomarkers of systemic/organ-specific toxicity. Additionally, the review will also highlight its role to facilitate clinical trial testing and improve post-approval drug monitoring. PMID: 30465509 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Gold Standard Assessment of Immunogenic Cell Death in Oncological Mouse Models. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1884:297-315 Authors: Humeau J, Lévesque S, Kroemer G, Pol JG Abstract The efficacy of cancer therapies strongly relies on their ability to reinstate cancer immunosurveillance. Numerous biomedical approaches with immunotherapeutic activity have been developed to reeducate the host immune system to detect and clear tumor cells. Cytotoxicants have been primarily designed to slow down malignant cell proliferation and to induce programmed cell death. Some cytotoxic stimuli are able to activate a particular type of apoptosis, which is referred to as immunogenic cell death (ICD), that de facto convert cancer cells into their own vaccine. This effect ultimately facilitates the establishment of an antitumor immune response that potentially annihilates spared malignant cells, as well as an immune memory that prevents cancer recurrence. Based on the characteristic hallmarks of ICD, protocols have been developed to validate ICD induction in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. These methods may contribute to identify novel ICD inducers and to design multimodal regimens with superior therapeutic efficacy. Moreover, their translation into clinical research could have prognostic or predictive value. This chapter will introduce the "gold standard" protocol for the in vivo assessment of ICD in mice. The procedure relies on vaccination with treated cancer cells, followed by rechallenge with living entities of the same type, in syngeneic immunocompetent animals. PMID: 30465212 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles Metabolomics of Breast Milk: The Importance of Phenotypes. Metabolites. 2018 Nov 20;8(4): Authors: Dessì A, Briana D, Corbu S, Gavrili S, Cesare Marincola F, Georgantzi S, Pintus R, Fanos V, Malamitsi-Puchner A Abstract Breast milk is the gold standard of nutrition for newborns. Its composition is tailored to the nutritional needs of the infant and varies between mothers. In recent years, several bioactive molecules have been discovered in addition to the main nutrients, such as multipotent stem cells, hormones, immunoglobulins, and bacteria. Furthermore, the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) seem to exert several important protective biological functions. According to the HMOs' composition, breast milk can be classified as a secretory or non-secretory phenotype. In our study, we investigated the metabolome of milk collected from 58 mothers that delivered neonates at term, that were appropriate, small or large for gestational age, by performing nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR). From the data analysis, two groups were distinguished based on their different types of oligosaccharides, and classified according the mother phenotype: secretory and non-secretory. This information is of major importance given the different biological function of the different HMOs, such as immune-modulation and protection against disease. This would allow us to predict whether the neonate would be, for instance, more prone to developing certain diseases, and to tailor her or his nutrition to fit their needs perfectly and pave the way to a personalized nutrition. PMID: 30463323 [PubMed]

Related Articles Molecular Fingerprints of Iron Parameters among a Population-Based Sample. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 19;10(11): Authors: Kaul A, Masuch A, Budde K, Kastenmüller G, Artati A, Adamski J, Völzke H, Nauck M, Friedrich N, Pietzner M Abstract Iron deficiency is the most frequent deficiency disease and parameters of iron metabolism appear to be linked to major metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. We screened a large set of small molecules in plasma for associations with iron status among apparently healthy subjects to elucidate subclinical profiles which may provide a link between iron status and onset of diseases. Based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy we determined 613 plasma metabolites and lipoprotein subfractions among 820 apparently healthy individuals. Associations between ferritin, transferrin, haemoglobin and myoglobin and metabolite levels were tested by sex-specific linear regression analyses controlling for common confounders. Far more significant associations in women (82 out of 102) compared to men became obvious. The majority of the metabolites associated with serum ferritin and haemoglobin in women comprising fatty acid species, branched-chain amino acid catabolites and catabolites of heme. The latter was also obvious among men. Positive associations between serum transferrin and VLDL and IDL particle measures seen in women were observed in men with respect to serum ferritin. We observed a sexual-dimorphic fingerprint of surrogates of iron metabolism which may provide a link for the associations between those parameters and major metabolic and cardiovascular disease. PMID: 30463274 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics reveals the mechanism of ambient fine particulate matter and its components on energy metabolic reprogramming in BEAS-2B cells. Sci Total Environ. 2019 Feb 15;651(Pt 2):3139-3150 Authors: Song Y, Li R, Zhang Y, Wei J, Chen W, Chung CKA, Cai Z Abstract Exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with various adverse effects. However, the molecular mechanism involved in PM2.5-elicited energy metabolic reprogramming and the toxic chemical determinants within PM2.5 are not well elucidated. In this study, nontargeted and targeted metabolomics research were conducted to investigate the overall metabolic changes and relevant toxicological pathways caused by Taiyuan winter total PM2.5 and its water soluble and organic soluble fractions in human lung bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). The results showed that significant metabolome alterations in BEAS-2B cells were observed after the exposure of total PM2.5 and its organic soluble fraction. Purine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, glutathione (GSH) metabolism, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycolysis were mainly affected. Along with a significant increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β), obvious metabolic phenotype remodeling from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis was found in BEAS-2B cells treated with total PM2.5 and its organic soluble fraction. Compared with water soluble fraction, organic soluble fraction was found to play the dominant role in PM2.5 toxicity. Our study provided novel insights into the mechanism of PM2.5-elicited toxicity. PMID: 30463164 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles Novel insight into the role of withering process in characteristic flavor formation of teas using transcriptome analysis and metabolite profiling. Food Chem. 2019 Jan 30;272:313-322 Authors: Wang Y, Zheng PC, Liu PP, Song XW, Guo F, Li YY, Ni DJ, Jiang CJ Abstract Withering is an indispensable process for improving flavors in green, black and white teas during their manufacturing. The effects of the withering process on the formation of tea flavors were investigated using transcriptome and metabolite profiling in withered tea leaves. A total of 3268, 23,282 and 25,185 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at 3 h (68%, water content), 12 h (61%) and 24 h (48%) of the withering process, respectively. The DEGs, involved in flavonoid biosynthesis were significantly downregulated, which could be correlated with the reduction of catechins. Enhancement of terpenoids and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism could trigger an increase in the total content and number of volatiles. The increase in free amino acid-content could be related to 261 DEGs. Our study suggests that dehydration stress during withering induced significant changes in the gene transcription and content of the tea flavor compounds, which promoted the special flavors in various teas. PMID: 30309549 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Related Articles Metabolomics of thyroid nodules and the future. Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2018 Oct;62(5):493-494 Authors: Gomes RLE, Gebrim EMMS PMID: 30462800 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles NMR-based metabolomics to select a surgical method for treating papillary thyroid carcinoma. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2018 Nov 14;73:e333 Authors: Wang B, Zhang LY, Wang SS, Yang YH, Zhao WX Abstract OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate differences in the metabolomic profiles of patients who received different surgeries for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS: Two surgical methods, i.e., unilateral and total thyroidectomy, were employed according to different disease conditions. Sera from patients who were treated with levothyroxine sodium tablets before and after surgery was analyzed with a Bruker 500 Hz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. Data were analyzed via principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) with SIMCA-P+ 11.0 software, and metabolites were obtained and compared. The first and second principal components were selected from PCA, PLS-DA, and orthogonal partial least squares discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA). A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were significant differences in serum metabolomics before and after surgery. Compared with unilateral thyroidectomy, total thyroidectomy reversed some highly increased metabolite levels (e.g., taurine and betaine). More significant variations in abnormal metabolites were noted after total thyroidectomy than after unilateral thyroidectomy (e.g., alanine, choline, hippurate, and formic acid). CONCLUSIONS: The choice of surgical method for PTC patients should be based not only on the tumor condition but also on the potential consequences of metabolic variations. Total thyroidectomy reversed some increased metabolite levels but led to accumulation of some other metabolites due to the loss of thyroid function; thus, metabolic disturbances caused by thyroid hormone deficiency should be prevented in advance. PMID: 30462753 [PubMed - in process]

Related Articles Metabolic remodeling of glucose, fatty acid and redox pathways in the heart of type 2 diabetic mice. J Physiol. 2018 Nov 21;: Authors: Cortassa S, Caceres V, Tocchetti CG, Bernier M, de Cabo R, Paolocci N, Sollott SJ, Aon MA Abstract KEY POINTS: Hearts from type 2 diabetic animals display perturbations in excitation-contraction coupling, impairing myocyte contractility and delaying relaxation, along with altered substrate consumption patterns. Under high glucose and β-adrenergic stimulation conditions, palmitate can, at least in part, offset left ventricle (LV) dysfunction in hearts from diabetic mice improving contractility and relaxation while restoring coronary perfusion pressure. Fluxome calculations of central catabolism in diabetic hearts show that, in presence of palmitate, there is a metabolic remodeling involving tricarboxylic acid cycle, polyol and pentose phosphate pathways, leading to improved redox balance in cytoplasmic and mitochondrial compartments. Under high glucose and increased energy demand, the metabolic/fluxomic re-direction leading to restored redox balance imparted by palmitate helps explain maintained LV function and may contribute to design novel therapeutic approaches to prevent cardiac dysfunction in diabetic patients. ABSTRACT: Type-2 diabetes (T2DM) leads to reduced myocardial performance, and eventually heart failure. Excessive accumulation of lipids and glucose are central to T2DM cardiomyopathy. Previous data showed that palmitate (Palm) or glutathione preserved heart mitochondrial energy/redox balance under excess glucose rescuing β-adrenergic-stimulated cardiac excitation-contraction coupling. However, the mechanisms underlying the accompanying improved contractile performance have been largely ignored. Herein we explore in intact heart under substrate excess the metabolic remodeling associated with cardiac function in diabetic db/db mice subjected to stress given by β-adrenergic stimulation with isoproterenol and high-glucose compared to their nondiabetic controls (+/+, WT) under euglycemic conditions. When perfused with Palm, T2DM hearts exhibit improved contractility/relaxation compared to WT, accompanied by extensive metabolic remodeling as demonstrated by metabolomics-fluxomics combined with bioinformatics and computational modeling. The T2DM heart metabolome showed significant differences in the abundance of metabolites in pathways related to glucose, lipids, and redox metabolism. Using a validated computational model of heart's central catabolism, comprising glucose and fatty acid (FA) oxidation in cytoplasmic and mitochondrial compartments, we estimated that fluxes through glucose degradation pathways are ∼2-fold lower in heart from T2DM vs. WT under all conditions studied. Palm addition elicits improvement of the redox status via enhanced β-oxidation and decreased glucose uptake, leading to flux-redirection away from redox-consuming pathways (e.g., polyol) while maintaining the flux through redox-generating pathways together with glucose-FA "shared fueling" of oxidative phosphorylation. Thus, available FAs such as Palm may help improve function via enhanced redox balance in T2DM hearts during peaks of hyperglycemia and increased workload. Sonia Cortassa has a PhD in Chemical Sciences from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, country where she held research and teaching positions at Universidad Nacional de Tucumán and Consejo Nacional Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). In the United States of America, she continued her research at the Johns Hopkins University and, at present, at the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Sciences/National Institute on Aging/NIH. Her field of research is Physiology, Bioenergetics, with expertise in Computational modeling of metabolic networks. She believes that quantitative Systems Biology approaches represent a real opportunity to contribute to the understanding of human body function in health and disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. PMID: 30462352 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Heterocyclic electrophiles as new MurA inhibitors. Arch Pharm (Weinheim). 2018 Nov 21;: Authors: Keeley A, Ábrányi-Balogh P, Hrast M, Imre T, Ilaš J, Gobec S, Keserű GM Abstract An electrophilic fragment library of small heterocycles was developed and characterized in the surrogate GSH-reactivity assay and aqueous stability test that revealed their potential as covalent warheads. Screening the library against MurA from Staphylococcus aureus (MurASA ) and Escherichia coli (MurAEC ) identified heterocyclic fragments with significant inhibitory potency. The validated heterocyclic warhead library might be useful for developing targeted covalent inhibitors for other targets of interest with a new design strategy incorporating heterocyclic electrophiles as warheads. PMID: 30461051 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles Eco-Metabolomics and Metabolic Modeling: Making the Leap From Model Systems in the Lab to Native Populations in the Field. Front Plant Sci. 2018;9:1556 Authors: Nagler M, Nägele T, Gilli C, Fragner L, Korte A, Platzer A, Farlow A, Nordborg M, Weckwerth W Abstract Experimental high-throughput analysis of molecular networks is a central approach to characterize the adaptation of plant metabolism to the environment. However, recent studies have demonstrated that it is hardly possible to predict in situ metabolic phenotypes from experiments under controlled conditions, such as growth chambers or greenhouses. This is particularly due to the high molecular variance of in situ samples induced by environmental fluctuations. An approach of functional metabolome interpretation of field samples would be desirable in order to be able to identify and trace back the impact of environmental changes on plant metabolism. To test the applicability of metabolomics studies for a characterization of plant populations in the field, we have identified and analyzed in situ samples of nearby grown natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana in Austria. A. thaliana is the primary molecular biological model system in plant biology with one of the best functionally annotated genomes representing a reference system for all other plant genome projects. The genomes of these novel natural populations were sequenced and phylogenetically compared to a comprehensive genome database of A. thaliana ecotypes. Experimental results on primary and secondary metabolite profiling and genotypic variation were functionally integrated by a data mining strategy, which combines statistical output of metabolomics data with genome-derived biochemical pathway reconstruction and metabolic modeling. Correlations of biochemical model predictions and population-specific genetic variation indicated varying strategies of metabolic regulation on a population level which enabled the direct comparison, differentiation, and prediction of metabolic adaptation of the same species to different habitats. These differences were most pronounced at organic and amino acid metabolism as well as at the interface of primary and secondary metabolism and allowed for the direct classification of population-specific metabolic phenotypes within geographically contiguous sampling sites. PMID: 30459786 [PubMed]