Although some clinical studies have reported increased mitochondrial respiration in patients with fatty liver and early non‑alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), there is a lack of in vitro models of non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with similar findings. Despite being the most commonly used immortalized cell line for in vitro models of NAFLD, HepG2 cells exposed to free fatty acids (FFAs) exhibit a decreased mitochondrial respiration. On the other hand, the use of HepaRG cells to study mitochondrial respiratory changes following exposure to FFAs has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess cellular energy metabolism, particularly mitochondrial respiration, and lipotoxicity in FFA‑treated HepaRG and HepG2 cells. HepaRG and HepG2 cells were exposed to FFAs, followed by comparative analyses that examained cellular metabolism, mitochondrial respiratory enzyme activities, mitochondrial morphology, lipotoxicity, the mRNA expression of selected genes and triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation. FFAs stimulated mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis in HepaRG cells, but not in HepG2 cells. Stimulated complex I, II‑driven respiration and β‑oxidation were linked to increased complex I and II activities in FFA‑treated HepaRG cells, but not in FFA‑treated HepG2 cells. Exposure to FFAs disrupted mitochondrial morphology in both HepaRG and HepG2 cells. Lipotoxicity was induced to a greater extent in FFA‑treated HepaRG cells than in FFA‑treated HepG2 cells. TAG accumulation was less prominent in HepaRG cells than in HepG2 cells. On the whole, the present study demonstrates that stimulated mitochondrial respiration is associated with lipotoxicity in FFA‑treated HepaRG cells, but not in FFA‑treated HepG2 cells. These findings suggest that HepaRG cells are more suitable for assessing mitochondrial respiratory adaptations in the developed in vitro model of early‑stage NASH.

• Klíčová slova
• HepG2 cells, HepaRG cells, in vitro models, lipotoxicity, mitochondria, mitochondrial respiration, non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease, steatosis,
• MeSH
• buněčné linie MeSH
• buňky Hep G2 MeSH
• dýchání MeSH
• kyseliny mastné neesterifikované MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mitochondrie MeSH
• nealkoholová steatóza jater * MeSH
• triglyceridy MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• kyseliny mastné neesterifikované MeSH
• triglyceridy MeSH

The long slender bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei maintains its essential mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) through the proton-pumping activity of the FoF1-ATP synthase operating in the reverse mode. The ATP that drives this hydrolytic reaction has long been thought to be generated by glycolysis and imported from the cytosol via an ATP/ADP carrier (AAC). Indeed, we demonstrate that AAC is the only carrier that can import ATP into the mitochondrial matrix to power the hydrolytic activity of the FoF1-ATP synthase. However, contrary to expectations, the deletion of AAC has no effect on parasite growth, virulence or levels of ΔΨm. This suggests that ATP is produced by substrate-level phosphorylation pathways in the mitochondrion. Therefore, we knocked out the succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS) gene, a key mitochondrial enzyme that produces ATP through substrate-level phosphorylation in this parasite. Its absence resulted in changes to the metabolic landscape of the parasite, lowered virulence, and reduced mitochondrial ATP content. Strikingly, these SCS mutant parasites become more dependent on AAC as demonstrated by a 25-fold increase in their sensitivity to the AAC inhibitor, carboxyatractyloside. Since the parasites were able to adapt to the loss of SCS in culture, we also analyzed the more immediate phenotypes that manifest when SCS expression is rapidly suppressed by RNAi. Importantly, when performed under nutrient-limited conditions mimicking various host environments, SCS depletion strongly affected parasite growth and levels of ΔΨm. In totality, the data establish that the long slender bloodstream form mitochondrion is capable of generating ATP via substrate-level phosphorylation pathways.

• MeSH
• adenosintrifosfát metabolismus   MeSH
• fosforylace MeSH
• mitochondrie metabolismus   MeSH
• Trypanosoma brucei brucei * metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• adenosintrifosfát MeSH

Metabolic flux investigations of cells and tissue samples are a rapidly advancing tool in diverse research areas. Reliable methods of data normalization are crucial for an adequate interpretation of results and to avoid a misinterpretation of experiments and incorrect conclusions. The most common methods for metabolic flux data normalization are to cell number, DNA and protein. Data normalization may be affected by a variety of factors, such as density, healthy state, adherence efficiency, or proportional seeding of cells. The mussel-derived adhesive Cell-Tak is often used to immobilize poorly adherent cells. Here we demonstrate that this coating strongly affects the fluorescent detection of DNA leading to an incorrect and highly variable normalization of metabolic flux data. Protein assays are much less affected and cell counting can virtually completely remove the effect of the coating. Cell-Tak coating also affects cell shape in a cell line-specific manner and may change cellular metabolism. Based on these observations we recommend cell counting as a gold standard normalization method for Seahorse metabolic flux measurements with protein content as a reasonable alternative.

• MeSH
• DNA * MeSH
• membránové proteiny * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• Cell-Tak MeSH Prohlížeč
• DNA * MeSH
• membránové proteiny * MeSH

The mitochondrion has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for novel cancer treatments because of its essential role in tumorigenesis and resistance to chemotherapy. Previously, we described a natural compound, 10-((2,5-dihydroxybenzoyl)oxy)decyl) triphenylphosphonium bromide (GA-TPP+C10), with a hydroquinone scaffold that selectively targets the mitochondria of breast cancer (BC) cells by binding to the triphenylphosphonium group as a chemical chaperone; however, the mechanism of action remains unclear. In this work, we showed that GA-TPP+C10 causes time-dependent complex inhibition of the mitochondrial bioenergetics of BC cells, characterized by (1) an initial phase of mitochondrial uptake with an uncoupling effect of oxidative phosphorylation, as previously reported, (2) inhibition of Complex I-dependent respiration, and (3) a late phase of mitochondrial accumulation with inhibition of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (αKGDHC) activity. These events led to cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase and cell death at 24 and 48 h of exposure, and the cells were rescued by the addition of the cell-penetrating metabolic intermediates l-aspartic acid β-methyl ester (mAsp) and dimethyl α-ketoglutarate (dm-KG). In addition, this unexpected blocking of mitochondrial function triggered metabolic remodeling toward glycolysis, AMPK activation, increased expression of proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (pgc1α) and electron transport chain (ETC) component-related genes encoded by mitochondrial DNA and downregulation of the uncoupling proteins ucp3 and ucp4, suggesting an AMPK-dependent prosurvival adaptive response in cancer cells. Consistent with this finding, we showed that inhibition of mitochondrial translation with doxycycline, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that inhibits the 28 S subunit of the mitochondrial ribosome, in the presence of GA-TPP+C10 significantly reduces the mt-CO1 and VDAC protein levels and the FCCP-stimulated maximal electron flux and promotes selective and synergistic cytotoxic effects on BC cells at 24 h of treatment. Based on our results, we propose that this combined strategy based on blockage of the adaptive response induced by mitochondrial bioenergetic inhibition may have therapeutic relevance in BC.

• Klíčová slova
• decyl polyhydroxybenzoate triphenylphosphonium derivatives, doxycycline, inhibition of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, inhibition of the electron transport chain, mitochondrial ribosome inhibition, mitochondrially targeted,
• MeSH
• apoptóza účinky léků   MeSH
• doxycyklin farmakologie   MeSH
• gentisáty chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• heterocyklické sloučeniny chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• ketoglutarátdehydrogenasový komplex antagonisté a inhibitory   genetika   MeSH
• kinasy AMP aktivovaných proteinkinas MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mitochondrie účinky léků   patologie   MeSH
• nádory prsu farmakoterapie   genetika   patologie   MeSH
• organofosforové sloučeniny chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• oxidativní fosforylace účinky léků   MeSH
• proliferace buněk účinky léků   MeSH
• proteinkinasy genetika   MeSH
• proteosyntéza účinky léků   MeSH
• protinádorové látky farmakologie   MeSH
• ribozomy účinky léků   MeSH
• synergismus léků MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid MeSH Prohlížeč
• doxycyklin MeSH
• gentisáty MeSH
• heterocyklické sloučeniny MeSH
• ketoglutarátdehydrogenasový komplex MeSH
• kinasy AMP aktivovaných proteinkinas MeSH
• organofosforové sloučeniny MeSH
• proteinkinasy MeSH
• protinádorové látky MeSH
• tris(o-phenylenedioxy)cyclotriphosphazene MeSH Prohlížeč