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The promiscuous enzyme medium-chain 3-keto-acyl-CoA thiolase triggers a vicious cycle in fatty-acid beta-oxidation.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondrial fatty-acid beta-oxidation (mFAO) plays a central role in mammalian energy metabolism. Multiple severe diseases are associated with defects in this pathway. Its kinetic structure is characterized by a complex wiring of which the functional implications have hardly been explored. Repetitive cycles of reversible reactions, each cycle shortening the fatty acid by two carbon atoms, evoke competition between intermediates of different chain lengths for a common set of 'promiscuous' enzymes (enzymes with activity towards multiple substrates). In our validated kinetic model of the pathway, substrate overload causes a steep and detrimental flux decline. Here, we unravel the underlying mechanism and the role of enzyme promiscuity in it. Comparison of alternative model versions elucidated the role of promiscuity of individual enzymes. Promiscuity of the last enzyme of the pathway, medium-chain ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (MCKAT), was both necessary and sufficient to elicit the flux decline. Subsequently, Metabolic Control Analysis revealed that MCKAT had insufficient capacity to cope with high substrate influx. Next, we quantified the internal metabolic regulation, revealing a vicious cycle around MCKAT. Upon substrate overload, MCKAT's ketoacyl-CoA substrates started to accumulate. The unfavourable equilibrium constant of the preceding enzyme, medium/short-chain hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, worked as an amplifier, leading to accumulation of upstream CoA esters, including acyl-CoA esters. These acyl-CoA esters are at the same time products of MCKAT and inhibited its already low activity further. Finally, the accumulation of CoA esters led to a sequestration of free CoA. CoA being a cofactor for MCKAT, its sequestration limited the MCKAT activity even further, thus completing the vicious cycle. Since CoA is also a substrate for distant enzymes, it efficiently communicated the 'traffic jam' at MCKAT to the entire pathway. This novel mechanism provides a basis to explore the role of mFAO in disease and elucidate similar principles in other pathways of lipid metabolism.

SUBMITTER: Martines AMF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5397069 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The promiscuous enzyme medium-chain 3-keto-acyl-CoA thiolase triggers a vicious cycle in fatty-acid beta-oxidation.

Martines Anne-Claire M F AMF van Eunen Karen K Reijngoud Dirk-Jan DJ Bakker Barbara M BM

PLoS computational biology 20170403 4

Mitochondrial fatty-acid beta-oxidation (mFAO) plays a central role in mammalian energy metabolism. Multiple severe diseases are associated with defects in this pathway. Its kinetic structure is characterized by a complex wiring of which the functional implications have hardly been explored. Repetitive cycles of reversible reactions, each cycle shortening the fatty acid by two carbon atoms, evoke competition between intermediates of different chain lengths for a common set of 'promiscuous' enzym ...[more]

PMID: 28369071

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Project description:BackgroundMonogenetic inborn errors of metabolism cause a wide phenotypic heterogeneity that may even differ between family members carrying the same genetic variant. Computational modelling of metabolic networks may identify putative sources of this inter-patient heterogeneity. Here, we mainly focus on medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD), the most common inborn error of the mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (mFAO). It is an enigma why some MCADD patients-if untreated-are at risk to develop severe metabolic decompensations, whereas others remain asymptomatic throughout life. We hypothesised that an ability to maintain an increased free mitochondrial CoA (CoASH) and pathway flux might distinguish asymptomatic from symptomatic patients.ResultsWe built and experimentally validated, for the first time, a kinetic model of the human liver mFAO. Metabolites were partitioned according to their water solubility between the bulk aqueous matrix and the inner membrane. Enzymes are also either membrane-bound or in the matrix. This metabolite partitioning is a novel model attribute and improved predictions. MCADD substantially reduced pathway flux and CoASH, the latter due to the sequestration of CoA as medium-chain acyl-CoA esters. Analysis of urine from MCADD patients obtained during a metabolic decompensation showed an accumulation of medium- and short-chain acylcarnitines, just like the acyl-CoA pool in the MCADD model. The model suggested some rescues that increased flux and CoASH, notably increasing short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (SCAD) levels. Proteome analysis of MCADD patient-derived fibroblasts indeed revealed elevated levels of SCAD in a patient with a clinically asymptomatic state. This is a rescue for MCADD that has not been explored before. Personalised models based on these proteomics data confirmed an increased pathway flux and CoASH in the model of an asymptomatic patient compared to those of symptomatic MCADD patients.ConclusionsWe present a detailed, validated kinetic model of mFAO in human liver, with solubility-dependent metabolite partitioning. Personalised modelling of individual patients provides a novel explanation for phenotypic heterogeneity among MCADD patients. Further development of personalised metabolic models is a promising direction to improve individualised risk assessment, management and monitoring for inborn errors of metabolism.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency is the most common inherited disorder of the mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, caused by mutations in the ACADM gene. Since the introduction of neonatal screening for MCAD deficiency, a subgroup of newborns have been identified with variant ACADM genotypes that had never been identified before in clinically ascertained patients. In vitro residual MCAD enzyme activity has been found to facilitate risk-stratification. In this study we integrated results of in vitro (residual MCAD enzyme activities) and in vivo (clinical fasting tolerance tests, and phenylpropionic acid loading tests) tests in this subgroup of newborns, defining the consequences of variant ACADM genotypes. METHODS: Enzyme analyses were performed in leukocytes with: hexanoyl-CoA (C6-CoA) +/- butyryl-CoA (C4-CoA), and phenylpropionyl-CoA (PP-CoA). In vitro studies were performed in 9 subjects with variant ACADM genotypes, in vivo functional tests in 6 of these subjects. RESULTS: Enzyme analyses with C6-CoA, C6-CoA + C4-CoA, and PP-CoA identified significantly higher residual MCAD enzyme activities in subjects with variant ACADM genotypes when compared to patients with classical ACADM genotypes.After prolonged fasting (range 15-18.5 hours) no hypoglycaemia was observed. Increasing concentrations of free fatty acids indicated lipolysis, and ketone body concentrations were sufficient for blood glucose concentrations in 5 out of 6 subjects. Phenylpropionic acid loading clearly demonstrated in vivo residual MCAD enzyme activity in all studied subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with variant ACADM genotypes and residual MCAD enzyme activities >10% display residual MCAD enzyme activities in vitro and in vivo. Our findings support the hypothesis that the guidelines on maximal duration of fasting might be abandoned in subjects with residual MCAD enzyme activities >10% under normal conditions. An emergency regimen and parental instructions remain necessary in all subjects with MCAD deficiency, regardless of residual MCAD enzyme activity.

Dataset Information

The promiscuous enzyme medium-chain 3-keto-acyl-CoA thiolase triggers a vicious cycle in fatty-acid beta-oxidation.

Publications

The promiscuous enzyme medium-chain 3-keto-acyl-CoA thiolase triggers a vicious cycle in fatty-acid beta-oxidation.

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