(1)H NMR studies distinguish the water soluble metabolomic profiles of untransformed and RAS-transformed cells

Three-Dimensional Cell Metabolomics Deciphers the Anti-Angiogenic Properties of the Radioprotectant Amifostine

Simple Summary

Cancer and inflammation share aberrant angiogenesis as a hallmark, and, thus, anti-angiogenetic strategies remain of key interest. Amifostine, which is already a drug on the market, may be of further benefit to patients also in the context of drug repurposing. To shed light on the anti-angiogenic properties of amifostine during human adult angiogenesis and grasp the early events of angiogenesis, we employed 3D cell untargeted metabolomics by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor-A or deferoxamine (pro-angiogenic factors that exhibit distinct angiogenesis induction profiles). Our findings reveal mechanism-specific inhibitory profiles of amifostine against VEGF-A- and deferoxamine-induced angiogenesis. Amifostine may serve as a dual radioprotective and anti-angiogenic agent in radiotherapy patients.

Abstract

Aberrant angiogenesis is a hallmark for cancer and inflammation, a key notion in drug repurposing efforts. To delineate the anti-angiogenic properties of amifostine in a human adult angiogenesis model via 3D cell metabolomics and upon a stimulant-specific manner, a 3D cellular angiogenesis assay that recapitulates cell physiology and drug action was coupled to untargeted metabolomics by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The early events of angiogenesis upon its most prominent stimulants (vascular endothelial growth factor-A or deferoxamine) were addressed by cell sprouting measurements. Data analyses consisted of a series of supervised and unsupervised methods as well as univariate and multivariate approaches to shed light on mechanism-specific inhibitory profiles. The 3D untargeted cell metabolomes were found to grasp the early events of angiogenesis. Evident of an initial and sharp response, the metabolites identified primarily span amino acids, sphingolipids, and nucleotides. Profiles were pathway or stimulant specific. The amifostine inhibition profile was rather similar to that of sunitinib, yet distinct, considering that the latter is a kinase inhibitor. Amifostine inhibited both. The 3D cell metabolomics shed light on the anti-angiogenic effects of amifostine against VEGF-A- and deferoxamine-induced angiogenesis. Amifostine may serve as a dual radioprotective and anti-angiogenic agent in radiotherapy patients.

1H-NMR metabolomics reveals a multitarget action of Crithmum maritimum ethyl acetate extract in inhibiting hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is nowadays the sixth cause of tumour-related deceases worldwide, estimated to become the third in Western countries by 2030. New drugs for HCC treatment still have many adverse effects. Several lines of evidence indicate that plant metabolites offer concrete opportunities for developing new therapeutic strategies for many diseases, including cancer. We previously reported that ethyl acetate extract of a spontaneous edible plant harvested in Apulia, Crithmum maritimum, significantly inhibited cell growth in HCC cells. By ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, here we show that Crithmum maritimum ethyl acetate extract counteracts the Warburg effect, by reducing intracellular lactate, inhibits protein anabolism, by decreasing amino acid level, and affects membrane biosynthesis by lowering choline and phosphocholine. Also, we observed an effect on lipid homeostasis, with a reduction in triglycerides, cholesterol, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and diunsaturated fatty acids (DUFA), and an increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Taken together, these data demonstrate that Crithmum maritimum-induced cytostasis is exerted through a multi-effect action, targeting key metabolic processes in HCC cells. Overall, our findings highlight the role of Crithmum maritimum as a promising tool for the prevention and the improvement of the therapeutic options for HCC and other types of tumours.

The response of the algae Fucus virsoides (Fucales, Ochrophyta) to Roundup® solution exposure: A metabolomics approach

Glyphosate, as a broad-spectrum herbicide, is frequently detected in water and several studies have investigated its effects on several freshwater aquatic organisms. Yet, only few investigations have been performed on marine macroalgae. Here, we studied both the metabolomics responses and the effect on primary production in the endemic brown algae Fucus virsoides exposed to different concentration (0, 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 mg L-1) of a commercial glyphosate-based herbicide, namely Roundup®. Our results show that Roundup® significantly reduced quantum yield of photosynthesis (Fv/Fm) and caused alteration in the metabolomic profiles of exposed thalli compared to controls. Together with the decrease in the aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine and tyrosine), an increase in shikimate content was detected. The branched-amino acids differently varied according to levels of herbicide exposure, as well as observed for the content of choline, formate, glucose, malonate and fumarate. Our results suggest that marine primary producers could be largely affected by the agricultural land use, this asking for further studies addressing the ecosystem-level effects of glyphosate-based herbicides in coastal waters.

Metabolic characteristics revealing cell differentiation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by combining NMR spectroscopy with Raman spectroscopy

Background

The staging system of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has close relationship with the degree of cell differentiation, but most NPC patients remain undiagnosed until advanced phases. Novel metabolic markers need to be characterized to support diagnose at an early stage.

Methods

Metabolic characteristics of nasopharyngeal normal cell NP69 and two types of NPC cells, including CNE1 and CNE2 associated with high and low differentiation degrees were studied by combining ¹H NMR spectroscopy with Raman spectroscopy. Statistical methods were also utilized to determine potential characteristic metabolites for monitoring differentiation progression.

Results

Metabolic profiles of NPC cells were significantly different according to differentiation degrees. Various characteristic metabolites responsible for different differentiated NPC cells were identified, and then disordered metabolic pathways were combed according to these metabolites. We found disordered pathways mainly included amino acids metabolisms like essential amino acids metabolisms, as well as altered lipid metabolism and TCA cycle, and abnormal energy metabolism. Thus our results provide evidence about close relationship between differentiation degrees of NPC cells and the levels of intracellular metabolites. Moreover, Raman spectrum analysis also provided complementary and confirmatory information about intracellular components in single living cells. Eight pathways were verified to that in NMR analysis, including amino acids metabolisms, inositol phosphate metabolism, and purine metabolism.

Conclusions

Methodology of NMR-based metabolomics combining with Raman spectroscopy could be powerful and straightforward to reveal cell differentiation development and meanwhile lay the basis for experimental and clinical practice to monitor disease progression and therapeutic evaluation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-019-0759-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Revealing Different Lung Metastatic Potentials Induced Metabolic Alterations of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells via Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) causes death mainly by disseminated metastasis progression and major challenge of clinical management is to distinguish lethal metastatic stage from indolent stage. It is shown that metastatic progression is closely related to cellular metabolism. But detailed metabolic alterations and molecular mechanisms still kept unclear between subtypes of different lung metastatic potentials. Methods: The current work used NMR-based metabolomics in the study of HCC cells with high malignancy but differed in lung metastatic potentials. Cell extracts and cultured media from MHCC97L and MHCC97H were utilized to reveal metabolic alterations related to metastatic potentials. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify characteristic metabolites which were used subsequently to draw the map of relative biochemical pathways by combining KEGG database. Results: The NMR spectra of both MHCC97L and MHCC97H include various signals from necessary nutritional components and metabolic intermediates. A series of characteristic metabolites were determined from both cell extracts and media. The ability on nutrient uptake varied from cell lines. Most of amino acids decreased in high metastatic cell line, so altered amino acid metabolisms and energy metabolism were revealed in high metastatic MHCC97H cell line. The majority pathways involved six essential amino acids in which the observed branched-chain amino acids together with lysine contributed to biosynthesis or degradation. Basically MHCC97H cell line could induce more active events than that of MHCC97L to progress to high metastasis with certain molecular events. Characteristic metabolites-derived classifiers performed robustly during prediction and confirmed their critical role in supporting metastasis progression. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence that NMR-metabolomics analyses of cells are able to understand metastatic characteristics accountable for biological properties. The proposed characteristic metabolites will help to understand HCC metastatic characterizations and may be filtered as potential biomarkers.