Over the last decade, an abundance of evidence has emerged demonstrating a close link between metabolism and immunity. It is now clear that obesity is associated with a state of chronic low-level inflammation. In this article, we discuss the molecular and cellular underpinnings of obesity-induced inflammation and the signaling pathways at the intersection of metabolism and inflammation that contribute to diabetes. We also consider mechanisms through which the inflammatory response may be initiated and discuss the reasons for the inflammatory response in obesity. We put forth for consideration some hypotheses regarding important unanswered questions in the field and suggest a model for the integration of inflammatory and metabolic pathways in metabolic disease.

Histone acetylation in single cell eukaryotes relies on acetyl-CoA synthetase enzymes that utilize acetate to produce acetyl-CoA. Metazoans, however, use glucose as their main carbon source and have exposure to only low concentrations of extracellular acetate. We show that histone acetylation in mammalian cells is dependent on ATP-citrate lyase (ACL), the enzyme that converts glucose-derived citrate into acetyl-CoA. We find that ACL is required for increases in histone acetylation in response to growth factor stimulation and during differentiation, and that glucose availability can impact histone acetylation in an ACL-dependent manner. Together, these findings suggest that ACL activity is required to link growth-factor-induced increases in nutrient metabolism to the regulation of histone acetylation and gene expression.

Recurrent mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and IDH2 have been identified in gliomas, acute myeloid leukaemias (AML) and chondrosarcomas, and share a novel enzymatic property of producing 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) from α-ketoglutarate1-6. Here we report that 2HG-producing IDH mutants can prevent the histone demethylation that is required for lineage-specific progenitor cells to differentiate into terminally differentiated cells. In tumour samples from glioma patients, IDH mutations were associated with a distinct gene expression profile enriched for genes expressed in neural progenitor cells, and this was associated with increased histone methylation. To test whether the ability of IDH mutants to promote histone methylation contributes to a block in cell differentiation in non-transformed cells, we tested the effect of neomorphic IDH mutants on adipocyte differentiation in vitro. Introduction of either mutant IDH or cell-permeable 2HG was associated with repression of the inducible expression of lineage-specific differentiation genes and a block to differentiation. This correlated with a significant increase in repressive histone methylation marks without observable changes in promoter DNA methylation. Gliomas were found to have elevated levels of similar histone repressive marks. Stable transfection of a 2HG-producing mutant IDH into immortalized astrocytes resulted in progressive accumulation of histone methylation. Of the marks examined, increased H3K9 methylation reproducibly preceded a rise in DNA methylation as cells were passaged in culture. Furthermore, we found that the 2HG-inhibitable H3K9 demethylase KDM4C was induced during adipocyte differentiation, and that RNA-interference suppression of KDM4C was sufficient to block differentiation. Together these data demonstrate that 2HG can inhibit histone demethylation and that inhibition of histone demethylation can be sufficient to block the differentiation of non-transformed cells.

Over the last decade, an abundance of evidence has emerged demonstrating a close link between metabolism and immunity. It is now clear that obesity is associated with a state of chronic low-level inflammation. In this article, we discuss the molecular and cellular underpinnings of obesity-induced inflammation and the signaling pathways at the intersection of metabolism and inflammation that contribute to diabetes. We also consider mechanisms through which the inflammatory response may be initiated and discuss the reasons for the inflammatory response in obesity. We put forth for consideration some hypotheses regarding important unanswered questions in the field and suggest a model for the integration of inflammatory and metabolic pathways in metabolic disease

Obesity is associated with a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation. Two manuscripts in this issue of the JCI (see the related articles beginning on pages 1796 and 1821) now report that obese adipose tissue is characterized by macrophage infiltration and that these macrophages are an important source of inflammation in this tissue. These studies prompt consideration of new models to include a major role for macrophages in the molecular changes that occur in adipose tissue in obesi

SUMMARY Histone acetylation plays important roles in gene regulation, DNA replication, and the response to DNA damage, and it is frequently deregulated in tumors. We postulated that tumor cell histone acetylation levels are determined in part by changes in acetyl-CoA availability mediated by oncogenic metabolic reprogramming. Here, we demonstrate that acetyl-CoA is dynamically regulated by glucose availability in cancer cells and that the ratio of acetyl-CoA: coenzyme A within the nucleus modulates global histone acetylation levels. In vivo, expression of oncogenic Kras or Akt stimulates histone acetylation changes that precede tumor development. Furthermore, we show that Akt's effects on histone acetylation are mediated through the metabolic enzyme ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), and that pAkt(Ser473) levels correlate significantly with histone acetylation marks in human gliomas and prostate tumors. The data implicate acetyl-CoA metabolism as a key determinant of histone acetylation levels in cancer cells.

No abstract

Cellular senescence both protects multicellular organisms from cancer and contributes to their aging1. The preeminent tumor suppressor p53 plays an important role in the induction and maintenance of senescence, but how p53 carries out this function remains poorly understood1–3. Additionally, while increasing evidence supports the notion that metabolic changes underlie many cell fate decisions and p53-mediated tumor suppression, few connections between metabolic enzymes and senescence have been established. Here we describe a novel mechanism by which p53 links the functions. We show that p53 represses the expression of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle)-associated malic enzyme 1 (ME1) and malic enzyme 2 (ME2). Both MEs are important for NADPH production, lipogenesis, and glutamine metabolism, with ME2 having a more profound effect. Through inhibiting MEs, p53 regulates cell metabolism and proliferation. Down-regulation of ME1 and ME2 reciprocally activates p53 through distinct Mdm2 and AMPK-mediated mechanisms in a feed-forward manner, bolstering this pathway and enhancing p53 activation. Down-regulation of ME1 and ME2 also modulates the outcome of p53 activation leading to strong induction of senescence, but not apoptosis, while enforced expression of either ME suppresses senescence. Our findings define physiological functions of MEs, demonstrate a positive feedback mechanism that sustains p53 activation, and reveal a connection between metabolism and senescence mediated by p53.