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Enhanced cerebral branched-chain amino acid metabolism in R6/2 mouse model of Huntington’s disease

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Abstract

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a hereditary and fatal disease causing profound neurodegeneration. Deficits in cerebral energy and neurotransmitter metabolism have been suggested to play a central role in the neuronal dysfunction and death associated with HD. The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), leucine, isoleucine and valine, are important for cerebral nitrogen homeostasis, neurotransmitter recycling and can be utilized as energy substrates in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Reduced levels of BCAAs in HD have been validated by several reports. However, it is still unknown how cerebral BCAA metabolism is regulated in HD. Here we investigate the metabolism of leucine and isoleucine in the R6/2 mouse model of HD. Acutely isolated cerebral cortical and striatal slices of control and R6/2 mice were incubated in media containing 15N- or 13C-labeled leucine or isoleucine and slice extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to determine isotopic enrichment of derived metabolites. Elevated BCAA transamination was found from incubations with [15N]leucine and [15N]isoleucine, in both cerebral cortical and striatal slices of R6/2 mice compared to controls. Metabolism of [U-13C]leucine and [U-13C]isoleucine, entering oxidative metabolism as acetyl CoA, was maintained in R6/2 mice. However, metabolism of [U-13C]isoleucine, entering the TCA cycle as succinyl CoA, was elevated in both cerebral cortical and striatal slices of R6/2 mice, suggesting enhanced metabolic flux via this anaplerotic pathway. To support the metabolic studies, expression of enzymes in the BCAA metabolic pathway was assessed from a proteomic resource. Several enzymes related to BCAA metabolism were found to exhibit augmented expression in the R6/2 brain, particularly related to isoleucine metabolism, suggesting an increase in the BCAA metabolic machinery. Our results show that the capacity for cerebral BCAA metabolism, predominantly of isoleucine, is amplified in the R6/2 brain and indicates that perturbations in cerebral BCAA homeostasis could have functional consequences for HD pathology.

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Acknowledgements

JVA would like to express his sincere gratitude to The Scholarship of Peter & Emma Thomsen for personal financial support (JVA). Furthermore, this project is financially supported by The Foundation of Aase and Ejnar Danielsen (10-002028) and the Augustinus Foundation (17-4115) (both Grants to JVA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jens V. Andersen, Blanca I. Aldana & Helle S. Waagepetersen

  2. Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Niels H. Skotte

  3. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anne Nørremølle

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  1. Jens V. Andersen
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  2. Niels H. Skotte
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  4. Anne Nørremølle
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  5. Helle S. Waagepetersen
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Contributions

JVA performed the slice incubation experiments and GC–MS analysis. NHS analyzed the proteomic resource. BIAG performed the HPLC analysis. AN bred and genotyped the mice. JVA, NHS and HSW wrote the manuscript. All authors have contributed critical intellectual content and have approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Helle S. Waagepetersen.

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Andersen, J.V., Skotte, N.H., Aldana, B.I. et al. Enhanced cerebral branched-chain amino acid metabolism in R6/2 mouse model of Huntington’s disease. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 76, 2449–2461 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-019-03051-2

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