Specific metabolomics adaptations define a differential regional vulnerability in the adult human cerebral cortex

Brain neurons offer diverse responses to stresses and detrimental factors during development and aging, and as a result of both neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. This multiplicity of responses can be ascribed to the great diversity among neuronal populations. Here we have determined the metabolomic profile of three healthy adult human brain regions—entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and frontal cortex—using mass spectrometry-based technologies. Our results show the existence of a lessened energy demand, mitochondrial stress, and lower one-carbon metabolism (particularly restricted to the methionine cycle) specifically in frontal cortex. These findings, along with the better antioxidant capacity and lower mTOR signaling also seen in frontal cortex, suggest that this brain region is especially resistant to stress compared to the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, which are more vulnerable regions. Globally, our results show the presence of specific metabolomics adaptations in three mature, healthy human brain regions, confirming the existence of cross-regional differences in cell vulnerability in the human cerebral cortex

Sixty years old is the breakpoint of human frontal cortex aging

Human brain aging is the physiological process which underlies as cause of cognitive decline in the elderly and the main risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Human neurons are functional throughout a healthy adult lifespan, yet the mechanisms that maintain function and protect against neurodegenerative processes during aging are unknown. Here we show that protein oxidative and glycoxidative damage significantly increases during human brain aging, with a breakpoint at 60 years old. This trajectory is coincident with a decrease in the content of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I–IV. We suggest that the deterioration in oxidative stress homeostasis during aging induces an adaptive response of stress resistance mechanisms based on the sustained expression of REST, and increased or decreased expression of Akt and mTOR, respectively, over the adult lifespan in order to preserve cell neural survival and function

Specific Metabolomics Adaptations Define a Differential Regional Vulnerability in the Adult Human Cerebral Cortex

Brain neurons offer diverse responses to stresses and detrimental factors during development and aging, and as a result of both neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. This multiplicity of responses can be ascribed to the great diversity among neuronal populations. Here we have determined the metabolomic profile of three healthy adult human brain regions—entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and frontal cortex—using mass spectrometry-based technologies. Our results show the existence of a lessened energy demand, mitochondrial stress, and lower one-carbon metabolism (particularly restricted to the methionine cycle) specifically in frontal cortex. These findings, along with the better antioxidant capacity and lower mTOR signaling also seen in frontal cortex, suggest that this brain region is especially resistant to stress compared to the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, which are more vulnerable regions. Globally, our results show the presence of specific metabolomics adaptations in three mature, healthy human brain regions, confirming the existence of cross-regional differences in cell vulnerability in the human cerebral cortex