Project description:The monoclonal origin of cancer is widely accepted, although numerous studies suggest that some are of polyclonal origin. Loss-of checkpoints in transformed cells gives rise to carcinomas comprising a wide diversity of cell types that fulfill distinct, even complementary, metabolic functions, contrasting with a hypothetical monoclonal origin. Here, using a Drosophila intestinal tumor model, we show that, despite an identical genetic background, these tumors 1), comprise a conserved set of different metabolic-specialized clusters; 2), are always polyclonal and derive from several clones characterized by distinct metabolic specificity; 3) depend on motility of the founder clones for their growth; 4) share metabolic needs similar to those of human cancers. In summary, our study indicates that, in this model, tumor formation always requires assembly between founder clones potentially providing distinct cellular functions, as visualized by their metabolic heterogeneity. Thus, this polyclonal assembly would constitute a critical step of tumor progression.
Project description:Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, and can rapidly progress to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Accurate preclinical models and robust methodologies need to be established to understand the underlying metabolic mechanisms and develop treatment strategies. Based on our meta-analysis of currently available data on several mouse models, we hypothesized a diet- and chemical-induced NASH model closely resembles metabolic alteration in human. We developed an already established WD+CCl4-induced NASH model. We developed and performed transcriptomics driven metabolic pathway analysis (TDMPA) using differentially expressed genes in mouse NASH liver compared to control. We compared the altered metabolic pathways and enzymatic reactions to human NASH. We performed functional assays and lipidomics to confirm our findings related to metabolic alterations. Numerous metabolic pathways were altered in human NASH and mouse model. De novo triglyceride biosynthesis, fatty acid beta-oxidation, bile acid biosynthesis, cholesterol metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation were the most influenced pathways. We confirmed significant reduction in mitochondrial functions and bioenergetics in NASH model, and in acylcarnitines. We identified a wide range of lipid species within the most perturbed pathways predicted by TDMPA. Triglycerides, phospholipids and bile acids were increased significantly in NASH, confirming our initial observations. We identified several metabolic pathways that typify NASH pathophysiology in human. By comparing human and mouse metabolic signatures, we evaluated metabolic resemblance of mouse model to human and its suitability for the study of the disease and potential usage for drug discovery and testing. We also presented TDMPA, a novel methodology to evaluate metabolic pathway alterations in metabolic disorders and a valuable tool for defining metabolic space to aid experimental design for lipidomics and metabolomics approaches.
Project description:Myceliophthora thermophila is a thermophilic fungus with great biotechnological characteristics for industrial applications, which can degrade and utilize all major polysaccharides in plant biomass. Nowadays, it has been developing into a platform for production of enzyme, commodity chemicals and biofuels. Therefore, an accurate genome-scale metabolic model would be an accelerator for this fungus becoming a universal chassis for biomanufacturing. Here we present a genome-scale metabolic model for M. thermophila constructed using an auto-generating pipeline with consequent thorough manual curation. Temperature plays a basic and critical role for the microbe growth. we are particularly interested in the genome wide response at metabolic layer of M. thermophilia as it is a thermophlic fungus. To study the effects of temperature on metabolic characteristics of M. thermophila growth, the fungus was cultivated under different temperature. The metabolic rearrangement predicted using context-specific GEMs integrating transcriptome data.The developed model provides new insights into thermophilic fungi metabolism and highlights model-driven strain design to improve biotechnological applications of this thermophilic lignocellulosic fungus.
Project description:To determine the effect of SphK2 KO on liver metabolic-associated gene expression in an early MASH mouse model To determine the effect of WDSW on liver metabolic-associated gene expression in an early MASH mouse model
Project description:Transcriptomics driven metabolic pathway analysis reveals similar metabolic alterations in diet- and chemical-induced mouse NASH model and human