Nutrient Sensing by Histone Marks: Reading the Metabolic Histone Code Using Tracing, Omics, and Modeling

Several metabolites serve as substrates for histone modifications and communicate changes in the metabolic environment to the epigenome. Technologies such as metabolomics and proteomics have allowed us to reconstruct the interactions between metabolic pathways and histones. These technologies have shed light on how nutrient availability can have a dramatic effect on various histone modifications. This metabolism–epigenome cross talk plays a fundamental role in development, immune function, and diseases like cancer. Yet, major challenges remain in understanding the interactions between cellular metabolism and the epigenome. How the levels and fluxes of various metabolites impact epigenetic marks is still unclear. Discussed herein are recent applications and the potential of systems biology methods such as flux tracing and metabolic modeling to address these challenges and to uncover new metabolic–epigenetic interactions. These systems approaches can ultimately help elucidate how nutrients shape the epigenome of microbes and mammalian cells.Histone post‐translational modifications (PTMs) sense cellular metabolic state and regulate gene expression, thereby influencing normal physiology and disease progression. While histone PTMs rely on metabolic substrates, how nutrients impact the histone PTM code is unclear. Here, systems biology technologies that can be used to study metabolic–epigenetic interactions are reviewed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156428/2/bies202000083_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156428/1/bies202000083.pd

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation ameliorates the impact of maternal obesity in mice: comparison with exercise

Maternal overnutrition increases the risk of long-term metabolic dysfunction in offspring. Exercise improves metabolism partly by upregulating mitochondrial biogenesis or function, via increased levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). We have shown that the NAD+ precursor, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) can reverse some of the negative consequences of high fat diet (HFD) consumption. To investigate whether NMN can impact developmentally-set metabolic deficits, we compared treadmill exercise and NMN injection in offspring of obese mothers. Five week old lean and obese female C57BL6/J mice were mated with chow fed males. Female offspring weaned onto HFD were given treadmill exercise for 9 weeks, or NMN injection daily for 18 days. Maternal obesity programmed increased adiposity and liver triglycerides, with decreased glucose tolerance, liver NAD+ levels and citrate synthase activity in offspring. Both interventions reduced adiposity, and showed a modest improvement in glucose tolerance and improved markers of mitochondrial function. NMN appeared to have stronger effects on liver fat catabolism (Hadh) and synthesis (Fasn) than exercise. The interventions appeared to exert the most global benefit in mice that were most metabolically challenged (HFD-consuming offspring of obese mothers). This work encourages further study to confirm the suitability of NMN for use in reversing metabolic dysfunction linked to programming by maternal obesity

Redistribution of H3K27me3 upon DNA hypomethylation results in de-repression of Polycomb target genes

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation and the Polycomb repression system are epigenetic mechanisms that play important roles in maintaining transcriptional repression. Recent evidence suggests that DNA methylation can attenuate the binding of Polycomb protein components to chromatin and thus plays a role in determining their genomic targeting. However, whether this role of DNA methylation is important in the context of transcriptional regulation is unclear. RESULTS: By genome-wide mapping of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2-signature histone mark, H3K27me3, in severely DNA hypomethylated mouse somatic cells, we show that hypomethylation leads to widespread H3K27me3 redistribution, in a manner that reflects the local DNA methylation status in wild-type cells. Unexpectedly, we observe striking loss of H3K27me3 and Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 from Polycomb target gene promoters in DNA hypomethylated cells, including Hox gene clusters. Importantly, we show that many of these genes become ectopically expressed in DNA hypomethylated cells, consistent with loss of Polycomb-mediated repression. CONCLUSIONS: An intact DNA methylome is required for appropriate Polycomb-mediated gene repression by constraining Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 targeting. These observations identify a previously unappreciated role for DNA methylation in gene regulation and therefore influence our understanding of how this epigenetic mechanism contributes to normal development and disease

The characterisation of piRNA-related 19mers in the mouse

Abstract Background Piwi interacting RNA, or piRNA, is a class of small RNA almost exclusively expressed in the germline where they serve essential roles in retrotransposon silencing. There are two types, primary and secondary piRNA, and the latter is a product of enzymatic cleavage of retrotransposons' transcripts directed by the former. Recently, a new class of 19nt long RNA was discovered that is specific to testis and appears to be linked to secondary piRNA biogenesis. Results We locate clusters of the testis-specific 19mers, which we call piRNA-related 19mers (pr19RNA), and characterise the transcripts from which they are derived. Most pr19RNA clusters were associated with retrotransposons and unannotated antisense transcripts overlapping piRNA clusters. At these loci the abundance of 19mers was found to be greater than that of secondary piRNAs. Conclusion We find that pr19RNAs are distinguished from other RNA populations by their length and flanking sequence, allowing their identification without requiring overlapping piRNAs. Using such sequence features allows identification of the source transcripts, and we suggest that these likely represent the substrates of primary piRNA-guided RNA cleavage events. While pr19RNAs appear not to bind directly to Miwi or Mili, their abundance relative to secondary piRNAs, in combination with their precise length, suggests they may be more than by-products of secondary piRNA biogenesis.</p

Dietary Macronutrient Management to Treat Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been demonstrated to play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson&#8217;s disease (PD). The products of several PD-associated genes, including alpha-synuclein, parkin, pink1, protein deglycase DJ-1, and leucine rich repeat kinase 2, have important roles in mitochondrial biology. Thus, modifying mitochondrial function could be a potential therapeutic strategy for PD. Dietary management can alter mitochondrial function as shifts in dietary macronutrients and their ratios in food can alter mitochondrial energy metabolism, morphology and dynamics. Our studies have established that a low protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratio can increase lifespan, motor ability and mitochondrial function in a parkin mutant Drosophila model of PD. In this review, we describe mitochondrial dysfunction in PD patients and models, and dietary macronutrient management strategies to reverse it. We focus on the effects of protein, carbohydrate, fatty acids, and their dietary ratios. In addition, we propose potential mechanisms that can improve mitochondrial function and thus reverse or delay the onset of PD