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Biology subjects

Matsuda, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Matsuda, F..

11 recordsLinked to original sources

MassBank Human: The annotated human metabolome

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics is essential for deciphering human metabolic functions and metabolite dark matter. However, the dark matter of the human metabolome is intricately hidden. Therefore, we developed MassBank Human, a curated library that distills 36,512,540 MS2 spectra from 76 public human datasets into 203,886 high-quality spectra via spectral averaging, recalibration, and filtering to achieve high mass accuracy. We further used three metabolite annotation tools and developed a Zipf-Bayesian rank aggregation framework to aggregate their rankings with false discovery rate control. This framework assigned molecular formulas, chemical classes, and planar structures to 55,564, 22,619, and 14,198 spectra, respectively. Approximately half of the annotated structures potentially originated from food, pollutants, or gut microbiota. In a metabolome analysis of colorectal cancer cells, MassBank Human doubled structural annotation coverage (10.6% to 21.2%), identifying acetylated polyamines as markers of metabolic rewiring. This community resource provides an annotated foundation for exploring human metabolomes.

bioinformatics↗

The TCA cycle and pentose phosphate pathway are linked to lipid droplet expansion in nitrogen-starved Lipomyces starkeyi cells

In eukaryotic cells, lipid droplets (LDs) play critical roles in storing energy, preventing lipotoxicity, promoting membrane biogenesis, and regulating stress responses, contributing to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Similar to white adipocytes under overnutrition, the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi cells form a single giant LD during nitrogen deprivation. Under the same conditions, mitochondria form elongated tubules and sheets in a close proximity to a giant LD, although the significance of this mitochondria-LD proximity remains unclear. Here, we show that inhibition of fatty acid synthesis leads to strong suppression of LD expansion in nitrogen-starved L. starkeyi cells. Metabolomics analysis reveals that the TCA cycle intermediates including citric acid, a key precursor for fatty acid synthesis, decrease in cells undergoing LD expansion. In contrast, the pentose phosphate pathway intermediates increase in a manner dependent on fatty acid synthesis. Inhibition of the pentose phosphate pathway, which generates NADPH, a key electron donor for fatty acid synthesis, strongly suppressed LD expansion. Surprisingly, nitrogen-starved L. starkeyi cells also accumulate carnitine, a critical carrier that mediates transport of fatty acids to mitochondria and accelerates beta-oxidation for energy production. Our findings raise the possibility that, under nitrogen starvation, L. starkeyi cells activate fatty acid synthesis with citric acid and NADPH from the TCA cycle and the pentose phosphate pathway, respectively, thereby facilitating energy production and storage concurrently via the mitochondria-LD proximity.

cell biology↗

Fine modulation of carbon flow in the central carbon metabolism via ribosome-binding site modification in Escherichia coli

Optimization of flux distribution in central carbon metabolism is important to improve the microbial productivity. As the number of precursors required for synthesis differs for each target compound, optimal flux distribution also varies. A library of mutant strains with diverse flux distributions can aid in optimal strain screening. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to construct a library of Escherichia coli strains with stepwise changes in flux distribution by introducing mutations into the ribosome-binding sites of key enzyme genes on its chromosome. We focused on the flux ratios at the glucose-6-phosphate and acetyl-CoA nodes to enhance mevalonate production. Mutations were introduced into the ribosome-binding sites of pgi and gltA to vary the flux ratios of the two pathway branches. Furthermore, a combinatorial repression library comprising 16 strains was constructed by varying pgi and gltA expression at four levels, and a plasmid expressing mevalonate synthesis genes was introduced into each strain. Batch cultures were performed to obtain strains with mevalonate titers and yields were 2.4- and 3.4-fold higher than those of the parent strain. Overall, our combinatorial suppression library of pgi and gltA facilitated the effective identification of mutants with optimal metabolism for mevalonate production.

molecular biology↗

Conserved metabolic adaptation mechanisms in cancer cells and yeast against mitochondrial dysfunction indicate an additional role of aerobic glycolysis for cell survival

Eukaryotic cells primarily generate ATP through oxidative phosphorylation and substrate-level phosphorylation. Despite the superior efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation, eukaryotic cells often utilize both pathways as aerobic glycolysis even in the presence of oxygen. However, its role in cell survival remains poorly understood. In this study, aerobic glycolysis of the Warburg effect in breast cancer cells (MCF7) and the Crabtree effect in a laboratory strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S288C) were compared following treatment with electron transport chain inhibitors, including FCCP, antimycin A, and oligomycin. MCF7 and S288C exhibited strikingly similar metabolic rewiring toward substrate-level phosphorylation against the inhibitor treatment, suggesting that mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and cytosolic substrate-level phosphorylation communicate through a common mechanism. Measurements of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and ATP concentration further indicated that cytosolic ATP was transported into the mitochondria under conditions of reduced electron transport chain activity. This ATP was likely utilized by the reverse mode of H+/ATPase to maintain the MMP which contributed to avoiding programmed cell death. These results suggest that the ATP supply to mitochondria plays a conserved role in aerobic glycolysis across yeast and mammalian cancer cells. This mechanism likely contributes to cell survival under conditions of fluctuating oxygen availability.

cell biology↗

Data processing of product ion spectra: Methods to control false discovery rate in compound search results for non-targeted metabolomics

In non-targeted metabolomics utilizing high-resolution mass spectrometry, several database search methods have been used to comprehensively annotate the acquired product ion spectra. Recent advancements in various in silico prediction techniques have facilitated compound searches by scoring the degree of coincidence between a query product ion spectrum and a compound in a compound database. Certain search results may be false positives, thus necessitating a method for controlling the false discovery rate (FDR). This study proposed two simple methods for controlling the FDR in compound search results. In the pseudo-target decoy method, the FDR can be estimated without creating a separate decoy database by treating such as the positive ion mode spectra as targets and converting the negative ion mode spectra as decoys. Further, the second-rank method uses the score distribution of the second-ranked hits from the compound search as an approximation of the false-positive distribution of the top-ranked hits. The performance of these methods was evaluated by annotating the product ion spectra from MassBank using the SIRIUS 5 CSI:Finger ID scoring method. The results indicated that the second-rank method was closer to the true FDR of 0.05. When applied to the four human metabolomics datasets, the second-rank method provided more conservative FDR estimations than the pseudo-target-decoy method. These methods enabled the identification of metabolites not present in human metabolome databases. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of these simple methods for FDR control in non-targeted metabolomics, facilitating more reliable compound identification and the potential discovery of novel metabolites.

bioinformatics↗

Aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells supplies ATP while preventing excess metabolic thermogenesis

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) regeneration by substrate-level phosphorylation is a general feature of cancer metabolism, even under normoxic conditions (aerobic glycolysis). However, it is unclear why cancer cells prefer inefficient aerobic glycolysis over the highly efficient process of oxidative phosphorylation for ATP regeneration. To investigate the metabolic principles underlying aerobic glycolysis, we performed 13C-metabolic flux analysis of 12 cultured cancer cell lines and explored the metabolic constraints required to reproduce the results using in silico metabolic simulations. We found that the measured flux distribution can be reproduced by maximizing the ATP consumption in the flux balance analysis considering a limitation of metabolic heat dissipation (enthalpy change). It suggests that aerobic glycolysis may be preferable because metabolic heat production during one mol of ATP regeneration by aerobic glycolysis was less than that produced by oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Consistent with the simulation, OXPHOS inhibition induced metabolic redirection to aerobic glycolysis while maintaining the intracellular temperature. Furthermore, the dependency on aerobic glycolysis was partly alleviated upon culturing at low temperatures. Our data suggest that metabolic thermogenesis is an important factor in understanding aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells and that an advantage of aerobic glycolysis is the reduction in metabolic heat generation during ATP regeneration.

cancer biology↗

Population-specific and transethnic genome-wide analyses reveal distinct and shared genetic risks of coronary artery disease

To elucidate the genetics of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Japanese population, we conducted a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 168,228 Japanese (25,892 cases and 142,336 controls) with genotype imputation using a newly developed reference panel of Japanese haplotypes including 1,782 CAD cases and 3,148 controls. We detected 9 novel disease-susceptibility loci and Japanese-specific rare variants contributing to disease severity and increased cardiovascular mortality. We then conducted a transethnic meta-analysis and discovered 37 additional novel loci. Using the result of the meta-analysis, we derived a polygenic risk score (PRS) for CAD, which outperformed those derived from either Japanese or European GWAS. The PRS prioritized risk factors among various clinical parameters and segregated individuals with increased risk of long-term cardiovascular mortality. Our data improves clinical characterization of CAD genetics and suggests the utility of transethnic meta-analysis for PRS derivation in non-European populations.

genetics↗

LAVENDER: latent axes discovery from multiple cytometry samples with non-parametric divergence estimation and multidimensional scaling reconstruction

Computational cytometry methods are now frequently used in flow and mass cytometric data analyses. However, systematic bias-free methodologies to assess inter-sample variability have been lacking, thereby hampering efficient data mining from a large set of samples. Here, we devised a computational method termed LAVENDER (latent axes discovery from multiple cytometry samples with nonparametric divergence estimation and multidimensional scaling reconstruction). It measures the Jensen-Shannon distances between samples using the k-nearest neighbor density estimation and reconstructs samples in a new coordinate space, called the LAVENDER space. The axes of this space can then be compared against other omics measurements to obtain biological information. Application of LAVENDER to multidimensional flow cytometry datasets of 301 Japanese individuals immunized with a seasonal influenza vaccine revealed an axis related to baseline immunological characteristics of each individual. This axis correlated with the proportion of plasma cells and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, a clinical marker of the systemic inflammatory response. The same method was also applicable to mass cytometry data with more molecular markers. These results demonstrate that LAVENDER is a useful tool for identifying critical heterogeneity among similar, yet different, single-cell datasets.

bioinformatics↗

Legacy Data Confounds Genomics Studies

Recent reports have identified differences in the mutational spectra across human populations. While some of these reports have been replicated in other cohorts, most have been reported only in the 1000 Genomes Project (1kGP) data. While investigating an intriguing putative population stratification within the Japanese population, we identified a previously unreported batch effect leading to spurious mutation calls in the 1kGP data and to the apparent population stratification. Because the 1kGP data is used extensively, we find that the batch effects also lead to incorrect imputation by leading imputation servers and a small number of suspicious GWAS associations. Lower-quality data from the early phases of the 1kGP thus continues to contaminate modern studies in hidden ways. It may be time to retire or upgrade such legacy sequencing data.

bioinformatics↗

Whole-genome reference panel of 1,781 Northeast Asians improves imputation accuracy of rare and low-frequency variants

Genotype imputation using the reference panel is a cost-effective strategy to fill millions of missing genotypes for the purpose of various genetic analyses. Here, we present the Northeast Asian Reference Database (NARD), including whole-genome sequencing data of 1,781 individuals from Korea, Mongolia, Japan, China, and Hong Kong. NARD provides the genetic diversities of Korean (n=850) and Mongolian (n=386) ancestries that were not present in the 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 (1KGP3). We combined and re-phased the genotypes from NARD and 1KGP3 to construct a union set of haplotypes. This approach established a robust imputation reference panel for the Northeast Asian populations, which yields the greatest imputation accuracy of rare and low-frequency variants compared with the existing panels. Also, we illustrate that NARD can potentially improve disease variant discovery by reducing pathogenic candidates. Overall, this study provides a decent reference panel for the genetic studies in Northeast Asia.

genomics↗

The Microbial Metabolite 4-Cresol Improves Glucose Homeostasis and Enhances β-Cell Function

Gut microbiota changes are associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. Through serum metabolome profiling in patients with cardiometabolic disease (CMD) we identified significant inverse correlation between the microbial metabolite 4-cresol and T2D. Chronic administration of non toxic dose of 4-cresol in two complementary preclinical models of CMD reduced adiposity, glucose intolerance and liver triglycerides, and enhanced insulin secretion in vivo, which may be explained by markedly increased pancreas weight, augmented islet density and size, and enhanced vascularisation suggesting activated islet neogenesis. Incubation of isolated islets with 4-cresol enhanced insulin secretion, insulin content and cell proliferation. In both CMD models 4-cresol treatment in vivo was associated with altered expression of SIRT1 and the kinase DYRK1A, which may contribute to mediate its biological effects. Our findings identify 4-cresol as an effective regulator of {beta}-cell function and T2D endophenotypes, which opens therapeutic perspectives in syndromes of insulin deficiency.

physiology↗