Vladimir I. Titorenko

Https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28256 Anna Leonov, Rachel Feldman, Amanda Piano, Anthony Arlia-Ciommo, Jennifer Anne Baratang Junio, Emmanuel Orfanos, Tala Tafakori, Vicky Lutchman, Karamat...

Loss of membrane raft integrity, metabolic dysregulation and inflammation are hallmarks of chronic diseases and aging. It is not well understood how the stress response itself may contribute to the manifestation of these common traits. To explore this question, we screened the model organism S. cerevisiae, for the secretion of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) as a proxy for membrane raft instability. It is shown here that the multiple cellular dysfunctions previously described for a defect in the methylation pathway for phosphatidyl choline (PC) synthesis (opi3Δ) are linked with GPI-APs secretion. They collectively result from the sustained activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Hog1p. Through modifying the dihydroxyacetone phosphate / glycerol-3-phosphate ratio, activated MAPK promotes phospholipid gene de-repression and interferes with GPI anchor synthesis. Rewiring the three carbon metabolism, namely by deleting the mitochondrial glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase, abrogated the opi3Δ mutant pleiotropic phenotypes identifying key targets to counteract MAPK-induced cellular dysfunctions.

// <![CDATA[ $('.header-date').hide();$('#titleAuthors').hide();$('#abstractHeader').hide(); // ]]> Karamat Mohammad1 and Vladimir I. Titorenko1 1 Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada Correspondence to: Vladimir I. Titorenko, email: vladimir.titorenko@concordia.ca Keywords: cellular aging; geroprotectors; caloric restriction; metabolism; methionine Received: January 11, 2021 Accepted: March 15, 2021 Published: March 30, 2021 Copyright: © 2021 Mohammad and Titorenko. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ABSTRACT Caloric restriction and the tor1Δ mutation are robust geroprotectors in yeast and other eukaryotes. Lithocholic acid is a potent geroprotector in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we used liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry method of non-targeted metabolomics to compare the effects of these three geroprotectors on the intracellular metabolome of chronologically aging budding yeast. Yeast cells were cultured in a nutrient-rich medium. Our metabolomic analysis identified and quantitated 193 structurally and functionally diverse water-soluble metabolites implicated in the major pathways of cellular metabolism. We show that the three different geroprotectors create distinct metabolic profiles throughout the entire chronological lifespan of S. cerevisiae. We demonstrate that caloric restriction generates a unique metabolic pattern. Unlike the tor1Δ mutation or lithocholic acid, it slows down the metabolic pathway for sulfur amino acid biosynthesis from aspartate, sulfate and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. Consequently, caloric restriction significantly lowers the intracellular concentrations of methionine, S-adenosylmethionine and cysteine. We also noticed that the low-calorie diet, but not the tor1Δ mutation or lithocholic acid, decreases intracellular ATP, increases the ADP:ATP and AMP:ATP ratios, and rises intracellular ADP during chronological aging. We propose a model of how the specific remodeling of cellular metabolism by caloric restriction contributes to yeast chronological aging delay.

Metabolomics is a methodology used for the identification and quantification of many low-molecular-weight intermediates and products of metabolism within a cell, tissue, organ, biological fluid, or organism. Metabolomics traditionally focuses on water-soluble metabolites. The water-soluble metabolome is the final product of a complex cellular network that integrates various genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and environmental factors. Hence, the metabolomic analysis directly assesses the outcome of the action for all these factors in a plethora of biological processes within various organisms. One of these organisms is the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a unicellular eukaryote with the fully sequenced genome. Because S. cerevisiae is amenable to comprehensive molecular analyses, it is used as a model for dissecting mechanisms underlying many biological processes within the eukaryotic cell. A versatile analytical method for the robust, sensitive, and accurate quantitative assessment of the water-soluble metabolome would provide the essential methodology for dissecting these mechanisms. Here we present a protocol for the optimized conditions of metabolic activity quenching in and water-soluble metabolite extraction from S. cerevisiae cells. The protocol also describes the use of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the quantitative analysis of the extracted water-soluble metabolites. The LC-MS/MS method of non-targeted metabolomics described here is versatile and robust. It enables the identification and quantification of more than 370 water-soluble metabolites with diverse structural, physical, and chemical properties, including different structural isomers and stereoisomeric forms of these metabolites. These metabolites include various energy carrier molecules, nucleotides, amino acids, monosaccharides, intermediates of glycolysis, and tricarboxylic cycle intermediates. The LC-MS/MS method of non-targeted metabolomics is sensitive and allows the identification and quantitation of some water-soluble metabolites at concentrations as low as 0.05 pmol/µL. The method has been successfully used for assessing water-soluble metabolomes of wild-type and mutant yeast cells cultured under different conditions.

After Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells cultured in a medium with glucose consume glucose, the sub-populations of quiescent and non-quiescent cells develop in the budding yeast culture. An age-related chronology of quiescent and non-quiescent yeast cells within this culture is discussed here. We also describe various hallmarks of quiescent and non-quiescent yeast cells. A complex aging-associated program underlies cellular quiescence in budding yeast. This quiescence program includes a cascade of consecutive cellular events orchestrated by an intricate signaling network. We examine here how caloric restriction, a low-calorie diet that extends lifespan and healthspan in yeast and other eukaryotes, influences the cellular quiescence program in S. cerevisiae. One of the main objectives of this review is to stimulate an exploration of the mechanisms that link cellular quiescence to chronological aging of budding yeast. Yeast chronological aging is defined by the length of time during which a yeast cell remains viable after its growth and division are arrested, and it becomes quiescent. We propose a hypothesis on how caloric restriction can slow chronological aging of S. cerevisiae by altering the chronology and properties of quiescent cells. Our hypothesis posits that caloric restriction delays yeast chronological aging by targeting four different processes within quiescent cells.

Https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27615 Pamela Dakik, Monica Enith Lozano Rodriguez, Jennifer Anne Baratang Junio, Darya Mitrofanova, Younes Medkour, Tala Tafakori, Tarek Taifour, Vicky Lutchman,...

Lipids are structurally diverse amphipathic molecules that are insoluble in water. Lipids are essential contributors to the organization and function of biological membranes, energy storage and production, cellular signaling, vesicular transport of proteins, organelle biogenesis, and regulated cell death. Because the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a unicellular eukaryote amenable to thorough molecular analyses, its use as a model organism helped uncover mechanisms linking lipid metabolism and intracellular transport to complex biological processes within eukaryotic cells. The availability of a versatile analytical method for the robust, sensitive, and accurate quantitative assessment of major classes of lipids within a yeast cell is crucial for getting deep insights into these mechanisms. Here we present a protocol to use liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the quantitative analysis of major cellular lipids of S. cerevisiae. The LC-MS/MS method described is versatile and robust. It enables the identification and quantification of numerous species (including different isobaric or isomeric forms) within each of the 10 lipid classes. This method is sensitive and allows identification and quantitation of some lipid species at concentrations as low as 0.2 pmol/µL. The method has been successfully applied to assessing lipidomes of whole yeast cells and their purified organelles. The use of alternative mobile phase additives for electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in this method can increase the efficiency of ionization for some lipid species and can be therefore used to improve their identification and quantitation.

Flaviviridae infections represent a major global health burden. By deciphering mechanistic aspects of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-host interactions, one could discover common strategy for inhibiting the replication of related flaviviruses. By elucidating the HCV interactome, we identified the 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 12 (HSD17B12) as a human hub of the very-long-chain fatty acid (VLCFA) synthesis pathway and core interactor. Here we show that HSD17B12 knockdown (KD) impairs HCV replication and reduces virion production. Mechanistically, depletion of HSD17B12 induces alterations in VLCFA-containing lipid species and a drastic reduction of lipid droplets (LDs) that play a critical role in virus assembly. Oleic acid supplementation rescues viral RNA replication and production of infectious particles in HSD17B12 depleted cells, supporting a specific role of VLCFA in HCV life cycle. Furthermore, the small-molecule HSD17B12 inhibitor, INH-12, significantly reduces replication and infectious particle production of HCV as well as dengue virus and Zika virus revealing a conserved requirement across Flaviviridae virus family. Overall, the data provide a strong rationale for the advanced evaluation of HSD17B12 inhibition as a promising broad-spectrum antiviral strategy for the treatment of Flaviviridae infections.

Oncotarget | https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27209 Younes Medkour, Karamat Mohammad, Anthony Arlia-Ciommo, Veronika Svistkova, Pamela Dakik, Darya Mitrofanova, Monica Enith Lozano Rodriguez, Jennifer Anne...

Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying cellular and organismal aging and aging-associated pathology has advanced greatly in recent years