Automated Monitoring of Phosphatidylcholine Biosyntheses inPlasmodiumfalciparumby Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry through Stable Isotope Labeling Experiments

Heterologous expression of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase from Plasmodium falciparum rescues Chinese Hamster Ovary cells deficient in the Kennedy phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis pathway

The plasmodial CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (PfCCT) is a promising antimalarial target, which can be inhibited to exploit the need for increased lipid biosynthesis during the erythrocytic life stage of Plasmodium falciparum. Notable structural and regulatory differences of plasmodial and mammalian CCTs offer the possibility to develop species-specific inhibitors. The aim of this study was to use CHO-MT58 cells expressing a temperature-sensitive mutant CCT for the functional characterization of PfCCT. We show that heterologous expression of wild type PfCCT restores the viability of CHO-MT58 cells at non-permissive (40 °C) temperatures, whereas catalytically perturbed or structurally destabilized PfCCT variants fail to provide rescue. Detailed in vitro characterization indicates that the H630N mutation diminishes the catalytic rate constant of PfCCT. The flow cytometry-based rescue assay provides a quantitative readout of the PfCCT function opening the possibility for the functional analysis of PfCCT and the high throughput screening of antimalarial compounds targeting plasmodial CCT.

Contribution of the precursors and interplay of the pathways in the phospholipid metabolism of the malaria parasite

The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, develops and multiplies in the human erythrocyte. It needs to synthesize considerable amounts of phospholipids (PLs), principally phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylserine (PS). Several metabolic pathways coexist for their de novo biosynthesis, involving a dozen enzymes. Given the importance of these PLs for the survival of the parasite, we sought to determine their sources and to understand the connections and dependencies between the multiple pathways. We used three deuterated precursors (choline-d₉, ethanolamine-d₄, and serine-d₃) to follow and quantify simultaneously their incorporations in the intermediate metabolites and the final PLs by LC/MS/MS. We show that PC is mainly derived from choline, itself provided by lysophosphatidylcholine contained in the serum. In the absence of choline, the parasite is able to use both other precursors, ethanolamine and serine. PE is almost equally synthesized from ethanolamine and serine, with both precursors being able to compensate for each other. Serine incorporated in PS is mainly derived from the degradation of host cell hemoglobin by the parasite. P. falciparum thus shows an unexpected adaptability of its PL synthesis pathways in response to different disturbances. These data provide new information by mapping the importance of the PL metabolic pathways of the malaria parasite and could be used to design future therapeutic approaches.

Stable isotope-assisted lipidomics combined with nontargeted isotopomer filtering, a tool to unravel the complex dynamics of lipid metabolism

Investigations of complex metabolic mechanisms and networks have become a focus of research in the postgenomic area, thereby creating an increasing demand for sophisticated analytical approaches. One such tool is lipidomics analysis that provides, a detailed picture of the lipid composition of a system at a given time. Introducing stable isotopes into the studied system can additionally provide information on the synthesis, transformation and degradation of individual lipid species. However, capturing the entire dynamics of lipid networks is still a challenge. We developed and evaluated a novel strategy for the in-depth analysis of the dynamics of lipid metabolism with the capacity for high molecular specificity and network coverage. The general workflow consists of stable isotope-labeling experiments, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/high-resolution Orbitrap-mass spectrometry (MS) lipid profiling and data processing by a software tool for global isotopomer filtering and matching. As a proof of concept, this approach was applied to the network-wide mapping of dynamic lipid metabolism in primary human skeletal muscle cells cultured for 4, 12, and 24 h with [U-(13)C]-palmitate. In the myocellular lipid extracts, 692 isotopomers were detected that could be assigned to 203 labeled lipid species spanning 12 lipid (sub)classes. Interestingly, some lipid classes showed high turnover rates but stable total amounts while the amount of others increased in the course of palmitate treatment. The novel strategy presented here has the potential to open new detailed insights into the dynamics of lipid metabolism that may lead to a better understanding of physiological mechanisms and metabolic perturbations.

Exploring metabolomic approaches to analyse phospholipid biosynthetic pathways in Plasmodium

SUMMARYPlasmodium falciparum, the agent responsible for malaria, is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite. For proliferation, differentiation and survival, it relies on its own protein-encoding genes, as well as its host cells for nutrient sources. Nutrients and subsequent metabolites are required by the parasites to support their high rate of growth and replication, particularly in the intra-erythrocytic stages of the parasite that are responsible for the clinical symptoms of the disease. Advances in mass spectrometry have improved the analysis of endogenous metabolites and enabled a global approach to identify the parasite's metabolites by the so-called metabolomic analyses. This level of analysis complements the genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data already available and should allow the identification of novel metabolites, original pathways and networks of regulatory interactions within the parasite, and between the parasite and its hosts. The field of metabolomics is just in its infancy in P. falciparum, hence in this review, we concentrate on the available methodologies and their potential applications for deciphering important biochemical processes of the parasite, such as the astonishingly diverse phospholipid biosynthesis pathways. Elucidating the regulation of the biosynthesis of these crucial metabolites could help design of future anti-malarial drugs.

Real-time monitoring of chemical reactions by mass spectrometry utilizing a low-temperature plasma probe

Real-time and in-situ monitoring of ongoing chemical reactions by mass spectrometry was achieved by simply directing the low-temperature plasma (LTP) to the surface of the reaction system for analyte desorption and ionization without any sample pretreatment.