Gliomas phenocopy an inborn error of metabolism to drive neuronal activity and tumor growth
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE343207 | GEO | 2026/09/15
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:The metabolic hallmarks of high-grade glioma (HGG) are not fully understood. Human brain tissue metabolomics revealed that the creatine synthesis pathway intermediate guanidinoacetate (GAA) accumulated ~100-fold in HGGs relative to controls, which was caused by imbalanced activities of enzymes in this pathway. Glioma cells secreted GAA rather than using it to produce creatine, implicating an unexpected function. GAA accumulates in GAMT Deficiency, an inborn error of metabolism, and elevates neuronal excitability. Neuronal excitability is also increased in glioma and drives tumor growth through neuron-glioma interactions. We hypothesized that glioma-generated GAA excites surrounding neurons. Indeed, GAA induced neuronal hyperactivity by activating GABAA receptors and causing depolarizing currents in glioma-associated neurons with dysregulated chloride homeostasis. Depleting tumoral GAA decreased electrochemical activity, neuron-glioma interactions, and tumor aggressiveness. Our findings unveil a mechanism linking cancer metabolism with cancer neuroscience and leverage human genetics to nominate GAA synthesis as a target in gliomas.
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Project description:Neural activity is increasingly recognized as a crucial regulator of cancer growth. In the brain, neuronal activity robustly influences glioma growth both through paracrine mechanisms and through electrochemical integration of malignant cells into neural circuitry via neuron-to-glioma synapses. Outside of the CNS, innervation of tumors such as prostate, breast, pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancers by peripheral nerves similarly regulates cancer progression. However, the extent to which the nervous system regulates lung cancer progression, either in the lung or when metastatic to brain, is less well understood. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a lethal high-grade neuroendocrine tumor that exhibits a strong propensity to metastasize to the brain. Here we demonstrate that SCLC cells in the brain co-opt neuronal activity-regulated mechanisms to stimulate growth and progression. Glutamatergic and GABAergic cortical neuronal activity each drive proliferation of SCLC in the brain through both paracrine and synaptic neuron-cancer interactions. In the brain, SCLC cells form bona fide neuron-to-SCLC synapses and exhibit depolarizing currents with consequent calcium transients in response to neuronal activity. SCLC cell membrane depolarization is sufficient to promote the growth of intracranial tumors. In the lung, vagus nerve transection markedly inhibits primary lung tumor formation and development, highlighting a critical role for innervation in overall SCLC growth. Taken together, these studies illustrate that neuronal activity plays a crucial role in dictating SCLC pathogenesis in both the lung and the brain.
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Project description:<p>We have capitalized on inherited erythromelalgia (IEM) as a well-characterized genetic model of chronic pain, and studied IEM patients carrying Na<sub>v</sub>1.7 mutations which affect channel activation and often produce hyperexcitability of DRG neurons. Whole exome sequencing was used to discover multiple gene variants that might contribute to neuronal excitability and that might serve as modifiers of sensory neuron firing, and identified the K<sub>v</sub>7.2 channel as a contributor to differences in pain profiles between individuals.</p>
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Project description:Newborn neurons enter an extended maturation stage, during which they acquire excitability characteristics crucial for development of presynaptic and postsynaptic connectivity. In contrast to earlier specification programs, little is known aboutthe regulatory mechanisms that control neuronal maturation. The Pet-1 ETS (E26 transformation-specific) factor is continuously expressed in serotonin (5-HT) neurons and initially acts in postmitotic precursors to control acquisition of 5-HT transmitter identity. Using a combination of RNA sequencing, electrophysiology, and conditional targeting approaches, we determined gene expression patterns in maturing flow-sorted 5-HT neurons and the temporal requirements for Pet-1 in shaping these patterns for functional maturation of mouse 5-HT neurons. We report a profound disruption of postmitotic expression trajectories in Pet-1 / neurons, which prevented postnatal maturation of 5-HT neuron passive and active intrinsic membrane properties, G-protein signaling, and synaptic responses to glutamatergic, lysophosphatidic, and adrenergic agonists. Unexpectedly, conditional targeting revealed a postnatal stage-specific switch in Pet-1 targets from 5-HT synthesis genes to transmitter receptor genes required for afferent modulation of 5-HT neuron excitability. 5-HT1a autoreceptor expression depended transiently on Pet-1, thus revealing an early postnatal sensitive period for control of 5-HT excitability genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing revealed that Pet-1 regulates 5-HT neuron maturation through direct gene activation and repression. Moreover, Pet-1 directly regulates the 5-HT neuron maturation factor Engrailed 1, which suggests Pet-1 orchestrates maturationthrough secondary postmitotic regulatoryfactors. The early postnatal switch in Pet-1targets uncovers a distinct neonatal stage-specific function for Pet-1, during which it promotes maturation of 5-HT neuron excitability. 5-HT neuron mRNA profiles of E11.5, E15.5, and postnatal (P1-P3) wild type (WT) and Pet-1-/- mice were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate, using Illumina HiSeq 2500. Myc-tagged Pet-1 ChIP-seq was performed on E12.5 to E14.5 hindbrains and sequencing using NextSeq 500.
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Project description:Biallelic mutations in the DCPS gene that disrupt the decapping activity of the DcpS scavenger decapping enzyme lead to neurodevelopmental deficiencies and intellectual disability. However, how the neurogenesis defects arise in these individuals remains unknown. Here we show that cells derived from DCPS mutant individuals have a metabolic deficiency in their creatine biosynthetic pathway. The cells possess reduced levels of creatine and a corresponding elevation of the creatine precursor, guanidinoacetate (GAA), due to reduced levels of guanidinoacetate methyltransferase mRNA and protein. Importantly, the compromised neurogenesis as well as neurite outgrowth observed in DcpS mutant induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation into neurons was reversed upon supplementation of creatine monohydrate into the culture medium. These findings suggest creatine deficiency as the underlying etiology of the neurogenetic defect in DcpS mutant cells and a potential driver of the neurological deficienciesin affected individuals.
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