Cellular Metabolism in Neurological Disorders

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Cell Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2024 | Viewed by 6273

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Lab of Neurobiology, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, O&N5, Box 602, Campus Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
2. KU Leuven- Stem Cell Institute (SCIL), KU Leuven University, ON4 Herestraat 49 - Box 804, Campus Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Interests: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; frontotemporal Dementia; Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease; regenerative medicine; neurodegeneration; CRISPR-Cas9; translational research

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Guest Editor
Microglia and Inflammation in Neurological Disorders (MIND) Lab, VIB-Center for Molecular Neurology (CMN), VIB. Universiteit Antwerpen-CDE, Parking P4, Gebouw V 0.10 Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerpen, Belgium
Interests: neurodegeneration; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; frontotemporal dementia; C9orf72; axonal transport; neuroinflammation

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Guest Editor
Scott and White, Center of Metabolomics, Temple, TX 76712, USA
Interests: homocysteine metabolism; folate; vitamin B12 and one-carbon metabolism; regulation of S-adenosylmethionine and methylation in metabolic disorders; amino acid metabolism energy metabolism in the central nervous system; inherited disorders affecting neurotransmitter metabolism; risk factors for vascular and neurodegenerative diseases
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent years have witnessed a significant growth of evidence that show dysregulated energy metabolism in neurological disorders. Neurons are large, polarized, excitable cells and, therefore, face unique challenges to maintain energy homeostasis. As such, they are the main contributors to the huge energy demand of the central nervous system (CNS). The remarkable vulnerability of neuronal cells to energy reduction contributes to disease susceptibility and progression. In addition, mitochondrial dysfunction has been widely recognized as a typical clinical hallmark of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Epilepsy, Schizophrenia, Multiple sclerosis, Neuropathic pain, and Alzheimer's disease. As the energy supply center of cells, the function of mitochondria has been extensively investigated in relation to the metabolism feature of CNS. Furthermore, glycogen metabolism has also been an important implication for the functioning of the brain, especially for the cooperation between astrocytes and neurons. In this Special Issue, we welcome any original research articles, short reports, reviews, and case reports that explore the impact and mechanisms of metabolic alterations in neurological disorders and provide a forum to discuss emerging metabolism-centric therapeutic avenues.

Dr. Wenting Guo
Dr. Laura Fumagalli
Dr. Teodoro Bottiglieri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • metabolism 
  • neurodegeneration 
  • mitochondria 
  • glycogen
  • therapeutic targets
  • neurons
  • glia

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6500 KiB  
Article
Alteration of Autophagy and Glial Activity in Nilotinib-Treated Huntington’s Disease Patients
by Karen E. Anderson, Max Stevenson, Rency Varghese, Michaeline L. Hebron, Erin Koppel, Mara McCartin, Robin Kuprewicz, Sara Matar, Dalila Ferrante and Charbel Moussa
Metabolites 2022, 12(12), 1225; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12121225 - 6 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1564
Abstract
Nilotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is safe and tolerated in neurodegeneration, it achieves CSF concentration that is adequate to inhibit discoidin domain receptor (DDR)-1. Nilotinib significantly affects dopamine metabolites, including Homovanillic acid (HVA), resulting in an increase in brain dopamine. HD [...] Read more.
Nilotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is safe and tolerated in neurodegeneration, it achieves CSF concentration that is adequate to inhibit discoidin domain receptor (DDR)-1. Nilotinib significantly affects dopamine metabolites, including Homovanillic acid (HVA), resulting in an increase in brain dopamine. HD is a hereditary disease caused by mutations in the Huntingtin’s (HTT) gene and characterized by neurodegeneration and motor and behavioral symptoms that are associated with activation of dopamine receptors. We explored the effects of a low dose of nilotinib (150 mg) on behavioral changes and motor symptoms in manifest HD patients and examined the effects of nilotinib on several brain mechanisms, including dopamine transmission and gene expression via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) miRNA sequencing. Nilotinib, 150 mg, did not result in any behavioral changes, although it significantly attenuated HVA levels, suggesting reduction of dopamine catabolism. There was no significant change in HTT, phosphorylated neuro-filament and inflammatory markers in the CSF and plasma via immunoassays. Whole miRNA genome sequencing of the CSF revealed significant longitudinal changes in miRNAs that control specific genes associated with autophagy, inflammation, microglial activity and basal ganglia neurotransmitters, including dopamine and serotonin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular Metabolism in Neurological Disorders)
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16 pages, 2175 KiB  
Article
Metabolites of De Novo Purine Synthesis: Metabolic Regulators and Cytotoxic Compounds
by Olga Souckova, Vaclava Skopova, Veronika Baresova, David Sedlak, Anthony J. Bleyer, Stanislav Kmoch and Marie Zikanova
Metabolites 2022, 12(12), 1210; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12121210 - 2 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3632
Abstract
Cytotoxicity of de novo purine synthesis (DNPS) metabolites is critical to the pathogenesis of three known and one putative autosomal recessive disorder affecting DNPS. These rare disorders are caused by biallelic mutations in the DNPS genes phosphoribosylformylglycineamidine synthase (PFAS), phosphoribosylaminoimidazolecarboxylase/phosphoribosylaminoimidazolesuccinocarboxamide synthase (PAICS), adenylosuccinate [...] Read more.
Cytotoxicity of de novo purine synthesis (DNPS) metabolites is critical to the pathogenesis of three known and one putative autosomal recessive disorder affecting DNPS. These rare disorders are caused by biallelic mutations in the DNPS genes phosphoribosylformylglycineamidine synthase (PFAS), phosphoribosylaminoimidazolecarboxylase/phosphoribosylaminoimidazolesuccinocarboxamide synthase (PAICS), adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL), and aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase/inosine monophosphate cyclohydrolase (ATIC) and are clinically characterized by developmental abnormalities, psychomotor retardation, and nonspecific neurological impairment. At a biochemical level, loss of function of specific mutated enzymes results in elevated levels of DNPS ribosides in body fluids. The main pathogenic effect is attributed to the accumulation of DNPS ribosides, which are postulated to be toxic to the organism. Therefore, we decided to characterize the uptake and flux of several DNPS metabolites in HeLa cells and the impact of DNPS metabolites to viability of cancer cell lines and primary skin fibroblasts. We treated cells with DNPS metabolites and followed their flux in purine synthesis and degradation. In this study, we show for the first time the transport of formylglycinamide ribotide (FGAR), aminoimidazole ribotide (AIR), succinylaminoimidazolecarboxamide ribotide (SAICAR), and aminoimidazolecarboxamide ribotide (AICAR) into cells and their flux in DNPS and the degradation pathway. We found diminished cell viability mostly in the presence of FGAR and AIR. Our results suggest that direct cellular toxicity of DNPS metabolites may not be the primary pathogenetic mechanism in these disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular Metabolism in Neurological Disorders)
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