Direct Substrate Delivery into Mitochondrial-Fission Deficient Pancreatic Islets Rescues Insulin Secretion

In pancreatic beta cells, mitochondrial bioenergetics control glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). Mitochondrial dynamics are generally associated with quality control, maintaining the functionality of bioenergetics. By acute pharmacological inhibition of mitochondrial fission protein Drp1, we here demonstrate that mitochondrial fission is necessary for GSIS in mouse and human islets. We confirm that genetic silencing of Drp1 increases mitochondrial proton leak in MIN6 cells. However, our comprehensive analysis of pancreatic islet bioenergetics reveals that Drp1 does not control insulin secretion via its effect on proton leak but instead via modulation of glucose-fuelled respiration. Notably, pyruvate fully rescues the impaired insulin secretion of fission-deficient beta cells, demonstrating that defective mitochondrial dynamics solely impact substrate supply upstream of oxidative phosphorylation. The present findings provide novel insights in how mitochondrial dysfunction may cause pancreatic beta cell failure. In addition, the results will stimulate new thinking in the intersecting fields of mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics, as treatment of defective dynamics in mitochondrial diseases appears to be possible by improving metabolism upstream of mitochondria

4-Methylumbelliferone improves the thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue.

Therapeutic increase of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis is of great interest as BAT activation counteracts obesity and insulin resistance. Hyaluronan (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan, found in the extracellular matrix, which is synthesized by HA synthases (Has1/Has2/Has3) from sugar precursors and accumulates in diabetic conditions. Its synthesis can be inhibited by the small molecule 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU). Here, we show that the inhibition of HA-synthesis by 4-MU or genetic deletion of Has2/Has3 improves BAT`s thermogenic capacity, reduces body weight gain, and improves glucose homeostasis independently from adrenergic stimulation in mice on diabetogenic diet, as shown by a magnetic resonance T2 mapping approach. Inhibition of HA synthesis increases glycolysis, BAT respiration and uncoupling protein 1 expression. In addition, we show that 4-MU increases BAT capacity without inducing chronic stimulation and propose that 4-MU, a clinically approved prescription-free drug, could be repurposed to treat obesity and diabetes

IMPECCABLE: Integrated Modeling PipelinE for COVID Cure by Assessing Better LEads

The drug discovery process currently employed in the pharmaceutical industry typically requires about 10 years and $2–3 billion to deliver one new drug. This is both too expensive and too slow, especially in emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. In silico methodologies need to be improved both to select better lead compounds, so as to improve the efficiency of later stages in the drug discovery protocol, and to identify those lead compounds more quickly. No known methodological approach can deliver this combination of higher quality and speed. Here, we describe an Integrated Modeling PipEline for COVID Cure by Assessing Better LEads (IMPECCABLE) that employs multiple methodological innovations to overcome this fundamental limitation. We also describe the computational framework that we have developed to support these innovations at scale, and characterize the performance of this framework in terms of throughput, peak performance, and scientific results. We show that individual workflow components deliver 100 × to 1000 × improvement over traditional methods, and that the integration of methods, supported by scalable infrastructure, speeds up drug discovery by orders of magnitudes. IMPECCABLE has screened ∼ 1011 ligands and has been used to discover a promising drug candidate. These capabilities have been used by the US DOE National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory and the EU Centre of Excellence in Computational Biomedicine

Radioimmunoassay of Human Urinary Kallikrein.

Peer Reviewe

Materialien zur regionalen Geographie Stadtklima, Flurbereinigung, Verkehrsplanung, Landschafts- und Freiraumplanung

TIB: AC 9585 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Skeletal muscle mitochondrial uncoupling drives endocrine cross-talk through the induction of FGF21 as a myokine.

UCP1-Tg mice with ectopic expression of uncoupling protein1(UCP1) in skeletal muscle (SM) are a model of improved substrate metabolism and increased longevity. Analysis of myokine expression showed an induction of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in SM, resulting in approximately fivefold elevated circulating FGF21 in UCP1-Tg mice. Despite a reduced muscle mass, UCP1-Tg mice showed no evidence for a myopathy or muscle autophagy deficiency but an activation of integrated stress response (ISR; eIF2 alpha/ATF4) in SM. Targeting mitochondrial function in vitro by treating C2C12 myoblasts with the uncoupler FCCP resulted in a dose-dependent activation of ISR, which was associated with increased expression of FGF21, which was also observed by treatment with respiratory chain inhibitors antimycin A and myxothiazol. The cofactor required for FGF21 action, beta- klotho, was expressed in white adipose tissue (WAT) of UCP1-Tg mice, which showed an increased browning of WAT similar to what occurred in altered adipocyte morphology, increased brown adipocyte markers (UCP1, CIDEA), lipolysis (HSL phosphorylation), and respiratory capacity. Importantly, treatment of primary white adipocytes with serum of transgenic mice resulted in increased UCP1 expression. Additionally, UCP1-Tg mice showed reduced body length through the suppressed IGF-I-GH axis and decreased bone mass. We conclude that the induction of FGF21 as a myokine is coupled to disturbance of mitochondrial function and ISR activation in SM. FGF21 released from SM has endocrine effects leading to increased browning of WAT and can explain the healthy metabolic phenotype of UCP1-Tg mice. These results confirm muscle as an important endocrine regulator of whole body metabolism