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Cell Metabolism Jun 2023Cellular lipid synthesis and transport are governed by intricate protein networks. Although genetic screening should contribute to deciphering the regulatory networks of...
Cellular lipid synthesis and transport are governed by intricate protein networks. Although genetic screening should contribute to deciphering the regulatory networks of lipid metabolism, technical challenges remain-especially for high-throughput readouts of lipid phenotypes. Here, we coupled organelle-selective click labeling of phosphatidylcholine (PC) with flow cytometry-based CRISPR screening technologies to convert organellar PC phenotypes into a simple fluorescence readout for genome-wide screening. This technique, named O-ClickFC, was successfully applied in genome-scale CRISPR-knockout screens to identify previously reported genes associated with PC synthesis (PCYT1A, ACACA), vesicular membrane trafficking (SEC23B, RAB5C), and non-vesicular transport (PITPNB, STARD7). Moreover, we revealed previously uncharacterized roles of FLVCR1 as a choline uptake facilitator, CHEK1 as a post-translational regulator of the PC-synthetic pathway, and CDC50A as responsible for the translocation of PC to the outside of the plasma membrane bilayer. These findings demonstrate the versatility of O-ClickFC as an unprecedented platform for genetic dissection of cellular lipid metabolism.
Topics: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; Flow Cytometry; Lipid Metabolism; Phosphatidylcholines; Organelles; CRISPR-Cas Systems
PubMed: 36917984
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2023.02.014 -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2022Phospholipids represent a crucial component for the structure of cell membranes. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine are two phospholipids that comprise the... (Review)
Review
Phospholipids represent a crucial component for the structure of cell membranes. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine are two phospholipids that comprise the majority of cell membranes. De novo biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine occurs via the Kennedy pathway, and perturbations in the regulation of this pathway are linked to a variety of human diseases, including cancer. Altered phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine membrane content, phospholipid metabolite levels, and fatty acid profiles are frequently identified as hallmarks of cancer development and progression. This review summarizes the research on how phospholipid metabolism changes over oncogenic transformation, and how phospholipid profiling can differentiate between human cancer and healthy tissues, with a focus on colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. The potential for phospholipids to serve as biomarkers for diagnostics, or as anticancer therapy targets, is also discussed.
Topics: Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Fatty Acids; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Phosphatidylcholines; Phosphatidylethanolamines; Phospholipids
PubMed: 35563655
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23095266 -
The Journal of Organic Chemistry Jun 2022Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) are important membrane constituents implicated in signaling and immune regulation. Synthesis of LPCs is...
Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) are important membrane constituents implicated in signaling and immune regulation. Synthesis of LPCs is challenging due to rapid acyl migration, e.g., induced by chromatography. We here report a highly regioselective synthesis of LPC and mixed PC via an intermediate allowing specific terminal acyl introduction, yielding the pure LPC without chromatography by an exceedingly mild TBS deprotection, using 1 equiv of TFA in aqueous solution. The method enabled the synthesis of glycerol-, acyl-, and choline-labeled LPC.
Topics: Lysophosphatidylcholines; Phosphatidylcholines; Water
PubMed: 35649118
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.2c00335 -
Progress in Lipid Research Apr 2021Phospholipid biosynthesis is crucial for plant growth and development. It involves attachment of fatty acids to a phospho-diacylglycerol backbone and modification of the... (Review)
Review
Phospholipid biosynthesis is crucial for plant growth and development. It involves attachment of fatty acids to a phospho-diacylglycerol backbone and modification of the phospho-group into an amino alcohol. The biochemistry and molecular biology of the former has been well established, but a number of enzymes responsible for the latter have only recently been cloned and functionally characterized in Arabidopsis and some other model plant species. The metabolism involving the polar head groups of phospholipids established by past biochemical studies can now be validated by available gene knockout models. Moreover, gene knockout studies have revealed emerging functions of phospholipids in regulating plant growth and development. This review aims to revisit the old questions of polar headgroup biosynthesis of plant phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine by giving an overview of recent advances in the field and beyond.
Topics: Arabidopsis; Fatty Acids; Phosphatidylcholines; Phosphatidylethanolamines; Phospholipids
PubMed: 33503494
DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2021.101091 -
Progress in Lipid Research Jan 2017In plant cells, phosphatidylcholine (PC) is a major glycerolipid of most membranes but practically lacking from the plastid internal membranes. In chloroplasts, PC is... (Review)
Review
In plant cells, phosphatidylcholine (PC) is a major glycerolipid of most membranes but practically lacking from the plastid internal membranes. In chloroplasts, PC is absent from the thylakoids and the inner envelope membrane. It is however the main component of the outer envelope membrane, where it exclusively distributes in the outer monolayer. This unique distribution is likely related with operational compartmentalization of plant lipid metabolism. In this review, we summarize the different mechanisms involved in homeostasis of PC in plant cells. The specific origin of chloroplast PC is examined and the involvement of the P4-ATPase family of phospholipid flippases (ALA) is considered with a special attention to the recently reported effect of the endoplasmic reticulum-localized ALA10 on modification of chloroplast PC desaturation. The different possible roles of chloroplast PC are then discussed and analyzed in consideration of plant physiology.
Topics: Chloroplasts; Homeostasis; Phosphatidylcholines; Plants; Surface Properties
PubMed: 27871883
DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2016.11.001 -
Journal of Bioenergetics and... Apr 2017Energy deficiency plays a key role in the development of irreversible shock conditions. Therefore, identifying mitochondrial functional disturbances during hemorrhagic... (Review)
Review
Energy deficiency plays a key role in the development of irreversible shock conditions. Therefore, identifying mitochondrial functional disturbances during hemorrhagic shock should be considered a prospective direction for studying its pathogenesis. Phospholipid (PL)-dependent mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain (i.e., in the frontal lobes of the cerebral hemispheres and medulla oblongata) and liver, which, when damaged, leads to an encephalopathy, are examined in this review. These mechanisms show strong regional specificity. Analyzing the data presented in this review suggests that the basis for mitochondrial functional disturbances is cholinergic hyperactivation, accompanied by a choline deficiency and membrane phosphatidylcholine (PC) depletion. Stabilization of the PL composition in mitochondrial membranes using "empty" PC liposomes could be one of the most important methods for eliminating energy deficiency during massive blood loss.
Topics: Animals; Cell Membrane; Choline Deficiency; Humans; Mitochondrial Diseases; Phosphatidylcholines; Phospholipids; Shock, Hemorrhagic
PubMed: 27999981
DOI: 10.1007/s10863-016-9691-7 -
Trends in Neurosciences Jun 2022Neurodegeneration drives the progression of many neurological diseases. Inflammation and oxidative stress occurring in the CNS promote lipid peroxidation, leading to the... (Review)
Review
Neurodegeneration drives the progression of many neurological diseases. Inflammation and oxidative stress occurring in the CNS promote lipid peroxidation, leading to the generation of oxidized phospholipids such as oxidized phosphatidylcholines (OxPCs). OxPCs have been proposed as biomarkers of oxidative stress, where their detection in lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS), frontotemporal lobe dementia, spinal cord injury, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) implies that oxidative insult had occurred. However, recent findings highlight OxPCs as potent neurotoxic species requiring neutralization by microglia. Here, we summarize the science of OxPCs, including lessons from non-CNS diseases. We discuss the potential of OxPCs as common drivers of injury across neurological conditions and encourage investigations of OxPCs as novel neurotoxins.
Topics: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Humans; Microglia; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative Stress; Phosphatidylcholines; Phospholipids
PubMed: 35393134
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.03.002 -
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Oct 2023Phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins (PITPs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and are involved in the regulation of phospholipid metabolism, membrane trafficking, and...
Phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins (PITPs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and are involved in the regulation of phospholipid metabolism, membrane trafficking, and signal transduction. Sec14 is a yeast PITP that has been shown to transfer phosphatidylinositol (PI) or phosphatidylcholine (PC) from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi. It is now believed that Sec14 may play a greater role than just shuttling PI and PC throughout the cell. Genetic evidence suggests that retrieval of membrane-bound PI by Sec14 also manages to present PI to the phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase, Pik1, to generate phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, PI(4)P. To test this hypothetical model, we designed a photocleavable bolalipid to span the entire membrane, having one phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylinositol headgroup on each leaflet connected by a photocleavable diacid. Sec14 should not be able to present the bola-PI to Pik1 for phosphorylation as the head group will be difficult to lift from the bilayer as it is tethered on the opposite leaflet. After photocleavage the two halves would behave as a normal phospholipid, thus phosphorylation by Pik1 would resume. We report here the synthesis of a photocleavable bola-PC, a precursor to the desired bola-PI. The mono-photocleavable bola-PC lipid was designed to contain two glycerol molecules with choline head groups connected through a phosphodiester bond at the sn3 position. Each glycerol was acylated with palmitic acid at the sn1 position. These two glycerol moieties were then connected through their respective sn2 hydroxyls via a photocleavable dicarboxylic acid containing a nitrophenyl ethyl photolabile protecting group. The bola-PC and its precursors were found to undergo efficient photocleavage when irradiated in solution or in vesicles with 365 nm light for two minutes. Treatment of the bola-PC with a mutant phospholipase D and myo-inositol produced a mono-inositol bola-PC-PI.
Topics: Phosphatidylcholines; Glycerol; Phosphorylation; Phospholipids; Phosphatidylinositols
PubMed: 37688997
DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117465 -
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces... Jun 2019The headgroup (H) stratum (sometimes called the polar region) of membrane bilayers is a relevant yet poorly understood solvation phase for small molecules and...
The headgroup (H) stratum (sometimes called the polar region) of membrane bilayers is a relevant yet poorly understood solvation phase for small molecules and macromolecules interacting with the membranes. Solvation of compounds in bilayer strata is characterized experimentally by wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering, neutron diffraction, and various NMR techniques. The quantification is tedious and only available for a limited set of small molecules. Our recently published model of liposome partitioning of small molecules shows that solvation of compounds in the H-stratum of fluid phosphatidylcholine (PC) bilayers correlates well with their solvation in hydrated diacetyl phosphatidylcholine (DAcPC), and solvation in the core (C) depends in a similar way on that in n-hexadecane. These two correlations became a basis for a model describing the location of compounds in the H- and C-strata and at the connecting interface as a nonlinear function of the fragment solvation characteristics of the compounds. In this study, refractivity of hydrated DAcPC phases with varying water contents was measured and polarity was determined using the steady-state fluorescence of indole and Nile Red. The results were compared with the published data obtained by other techniques for PC bilayers in liposomes or on solid supports. The demonstrated qualitative agreement, as well as the polarity and refractivity dependencies on the DAcPC concentration, supports the suitability of hydrated DAcPC as the H-stratum surrogate. Interestingly, depending on hydrations typical for the H-strata of fluid PC bilayers, the dielectric constant could decrease significantly from 31.0 to 7.3 for 16 and 8 water molecules per headgroup, respectively. Although additional experiments are needed for confirmation, this observation could help set proper dielectric constant magnitudes in continuum-based computational models of accumulation and crossing of the PC bilayers with varying hydration levels thanks to the temperature or the structure of fatty acid chains.
Topics: Alkanes; Lipid Bilayers; Liposomes; Phosphatidylcholines; Phospholipids; Refractometry
PubMed: 31244216
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b03992 -
Biophysical Journal Jun 2023Lateral phase heterogeneity in biomembranes can govern cellular functions and may serve as a platform for enrichment or depletion of membrane-anchored molecules. In this...
Lateral phase heterogeneity in biomembranes can govern cellular functions and may serve as a platform for enrichment or depletion of membrane-anchored molecules. In this work, we address the question of how the process of membrane fusion is affected by the membrane phase state (fluid or gel) and by phase coexistence, as well as the effects of fusion-mediated incorporation of exogeneous lipids on phase separation. Our system is based on the fusion of cationic fluid large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) composed of dioleoyl trimethylammonium propane (DOTAP) and dioleoyl phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) with neutral and anionic giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol. By changing the lipid composition of the GUVs, we modulated the phase state and charge of the different phases (charged or neutral, fluid or gel) and identified systems in which we can target fusion to specific domains on phase-separated membranes. Fusion efficiency was quantified using fluorescence microscopy-based lipid and content mixing assays, and flow chamber devices were used to assess the real-time sequence of events of the fusion process. To investigate the bilayer thermal behavior, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were performed on LUVs. The results show that fusion is extensive in single-component GUVs only for fluid and negatively charged acceptor membranes. On the other hand, in phase-separated GUVs, high fusion efficiency was observed even when the gel phase was anionic and phase separation somewhat increased the fusion efficiency. Extensive fusion led to dissolution of the gel domains as a result of extensive incorporation of lipids in the fluid state from the fusogenic liposomes. Altogether, these findings have the potential to unravel the important role of membrane phase state, phase separation, charge, and the effects of extensive fusion on membrane organization and may give insights in the regulation of the interactions between cells and liposomes that are used in drug delivery systems.
Topics: Liposomes; Unilamellar Liposomes; Drug Delivery Systems; Lipids; Phosphatidylcholines
PubMed: 36474443
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.12.008