Fumiaki Obata

Methionine metabolism regulates maintenance and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells.

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are in a high-flux metabolic state, with a high dependence on threonine catabolism. However, little is known regarding amino acid metabolism in human ESCs/iPSCs. We show that human ESCs/iPSCs require high amounts of methionine (Met) and express high levels of enzymes involved in Met metabolism. Met deprivation results in a rapid decrease in intracellular S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), triggering the activation of p53-p38 signaling, reducing NANOG expression, and poising human iPSC/ESCs for differentiation, follow by potentiated differentiation into all three germ layers. However, when exposed to prolonged Met deprivation, the cells undergo apoptosis. We also show that human ESCs/iPSCs have regulatory systems to maintain constant intracellular Met and SAM levels. Our findings show that SAM is a key regulator for maintaining undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells and regulating their differentiation.

Selective Ablation of β‐Galactosidase‐Expressing Cells with a Rationally Designed Activatable Photosensitizer

We have developed an activatable photosensitizer capable of specifically inducing the death of β-galactosidase-expressing cells in response to photoirradiation. By using a selenium-substituted rhodol scaffold bearing β-galactoside as a targeting substituent, we designed and synthesized HMDESeR-βGal, which has a non-phototoxic spirocyclic structure owing to the presence of the galactoside moiety. However, β-galactosidase efficiently converted HMDESeR-βGal into phototoxic HMDESeR, which exists predominantly in the open xanthene form. This structural change resulted in drastic recovery of visible-wavelength absorption and the ability to generate singlet oxygen ((1)O2). When HMDESeR-βGal was applied to larval Drosophila melanogaster wing disks, which express β-galactosidase only in the posterior region, photoirradiation induced cell death in the β-galactosidase-expressing region with high specificity.

Persephone/Spätzle Pathogen Sensors Mediate the Activation of Toll Receptor Signaling in Response to Endogenous Danger Signals in Apoptosis-deficient Drosophila

Background: Apoptosis deficiency causes necrotic cell death that activates the innate immune response in mammals. Results: Apoptosis-deficient Drosophila exhibited constitutive Toll pathway activation mediated by serine protease Persephone. Conclusion: Apoptosis-deficient Drosophila produces damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) leading to canonical Toll signaling through a Persephone-mediated proteolytic cascade that cleaves the Toll ligand Spätzle. Significance: DAMP-mediated Toll-like receptor signaling is conserved in invertebrates. Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that removes damaged or unwanted cells, effectively maintaining cellular homeostasis. It has long been suggested that a deficiency in this type of naturally occurring cell death could potentially lead to necrosis, resulting in the release of endogenous immunogenic molecules such as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and a noninfectious inflammatory response. However, the details about how danger signals from apoptosis-deficient cells are detected and translated to an immune response are largely unknown. In this study, we found that Drosophila mutants deficient for Dronc, the key initiator caspase required for apoptosis, produced the active form of the endogenous Toll ligand Spätzle (Spz). We speculated that, as a system for sensing potential DAMPs in the hemolymph, the dronc mutants constitutively activate a proteolytic cascade that leads to Spz proteolytic processing. We demonstrated that Toll signaling activation required the action of Persephone, a CLIP domain serine protease that usually reacts to microbial proteolytic activities. Our findings show that the Persephone proteolytic cascade plays a crucial role in mediating DAMP-induced systemic responses in apoptosis-deficient Drosophila mutants.

Analysis of the region for receptor binding and triggering of oligomerization on Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Aa toxin

The determination of the receptor‐binding region of Cry toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis is expected to facilitate an improvement in their insecticidal ability through protein engineering. We analyzed the region on Cry1Aa molecules involved in interactions with the cadherin‐like protein receptor BtR175 using cysteine‐substituted mutant toxins and several synthetic peptides corresponding to the loops in domain 2. In addition, the region necessary to trigger oligomerization was analyzed using these mutant toxins. The mutant toxins were modified by two types of molecule, i.e. digested fragments of the Cry1Aa precursor with an average molecular mass of 2 kDa and 5‐iodoacetamidofluorescein, which has a molecular mass of 515 kDa. We examined whether these modifications interfere with the toxin–BtR175 interaction as a result of steric hindrance. 5‐Iodoacetamidofluorescein modification of R311C, N376C and G442C revealed steric hindrance effects, indicating that R311 on loop 1, N376 on loop 2 and G442 on loop 3 are on the contact face of the toxin–BtR175 interface when Cry1Aa binds to BtR175. Loop 2 is thought to interact with BtR175 directly, as a peptide corresponding to the N‐terminal half of loop 2, (365)LYRRIILG(372), has the potential to bind to BtR175 fragments. Meanwhile, mutant toxins with cysteine substitutions in loops 1 and 2 were oligomerized by the binding of digested fragments in the activation process without receptor interaction, and the wild‐type toxin formed oligomers by interaction with BtR175 fragments. These observations suggest that loops 1 and 2 form both a binding region and a sensor region, which triggers toxin oligomer formation.

Enhancing S-adenosyl-methionine catabolism extends Drosophila lifespan

Methionine restriction extends the lifespan of various model organisms. Limiting S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM) synthesis, the first metabolic reaction of dietary methionine, extends longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans but accelerates pathology in mammals. Here, we show that, as an alternative to inhibiting SAM synthesis, enhancement of SAM catabolism by glycine N-methyltransferase (Gnmt) extends the lifespan in Drosophila. Gnmt strongly buffers systemic SAM levels by producing sarcosine in either high-methionine or low-sams conditions. During ageing, systemic SAM levels in flies are increased. Gnmt is transcriptionally induced in a dFoxO-dependent manner; however, this is insufficient to suppress SAM elevation completely in old flies. Overexpression of gnmt suppresses this age-dependent SAM increase and extends longevity. Pro-longevity regimens, such as dietary restriction or reduced insulin signalling, attenuate the age-dependent SAM increase, and rely at least partially on Gnmt function to exert their lifespan-extending effect in Drosophila. Our study suggests that regulation of SAM levels by Gnmt is a key component of lifespan extension.

Detection of LacZ-Positive Cells in Living Tissue with Single-Cell Resolution

The LacZ gene, which encodes Escherichia coli β-galactosidase, is widely used as a marker for cells with targeted gene expression or disruption. However, it has been difficult to detect lacZ-positive cells in living organisms or tissues at single-cell resolution, limiting the utility of existing lacZ reporters. Herein we present a newly developed fluorogenic β-galactosidase substrate suitable for labeling live cells in culture, as well as in living tissues. This precisely functionalized fluorescent probe exhibited dramatic activation of fluorescence upon reaction with the enzyme, remained inside cells by anchoring itself to intracellular proteins, and provided single-cell resolution. Neurons labeled with this probe preserved spontaneous firing, which was enhanced by application of ligands of receptors expressed in the cells, suggesting that this probe would be applicable to investigate functions of targeted cells in living tissues and organisms.

Interplay of cell proliferation and cell death in Drosophila tissue regeneration.

Regeneration is a fascinating process that allows some organisms to reconstruct damaged tissues. In addition to the classical regeneration model of the Drosophila larval imaginal discs, the genetically induced tissue ablation model has promoted the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying cell death, proliferation, and remodeling for tissue regeneration. Recent studies have also revealed that tissue injury responses occur not only locally but also systemically, even in the uninjured region. Genetic studies in Drosophila have demonstrated the dynamic role of the cell death‐induced tissue response in the reconstruction of damaged tissues.

Early-life exposure to low-dose oxidants can increase longevity via microbiome remodelling in Drosophila

Environmental stresses experienced during development exert many long-term effects upon health and disease. For example, chemical oxidants or genetic perturbations that induce low levels of reactive oxygen species can extend lifespan in several species. In some cases, the beneficial effects of low-dose oxidants are attributed to adaptive protective mechanisms such as mitohormesis, which involve long-term increases in the expression of stress response genes. Here we show in Drosophila that transient exposure to low concentrations of oxidants during development leads to an extension of adult lifespan. Surprisingly, this depends upon oxidants acting in an antibiotic-like manner to selectively deplete the microbiome of Acetobacter proteobacteria. We demonstrate that the presence of Acetobacter species, such as A. aceti, in the indigenous microbiota increases age-related gut dysfunction and shortens lifespan. This study demonstrates that low-dose oxidant exposure during early life can extend lifespan via microbiome remodelling rather than mitohormesis.Low doses of harmful chemicals such as oxidants can have beneficial effects, in some cases mediated by increased expression of stress response genes. In this study, the authors show that low-dose oxidants increase the longevity of Drosophila via a different mechanism, remodelling of the microbiome.

Tissue nonautonomous effects of fat body methionine metabolism on imaginal disc repair in Drosophila

Significance Interactions between damaged and surrounding tissues are suggested to be critical for maintaining tissue homeostasis in multicellular organisms. In this study, we reveal the tissue nonautonomous contribution of the methionine metabolism in the fat body to the repair and regeneration processes of disc epithelia in fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. Fat body corresponds to the mammalian liver and adipose tissue, and methionine metabolism is a broadly conserved metabolic pathway from bacteria to human, which plays important roles through transmethylation, transsulfuration, and polyamine biosynthesis. We propose the regulatory roles of the methionine metabolism in the fat body for systemic regulation of tissue repair. Regulatory mechanisms for tissue repair and regeneration within damaged tissue have been extensively studied. However, the systemic regulation of tissue repair remains poorly understood. To elucidate tissue nonautonomous control of repair process, it is essential to induce local damage, independent of genetic manipulations in uninjured parts of the body. Herein, we develop a system in Drosophila for spatiotemporal tissue injury using a temperature-sensitive form of diphtheria toxin A domain driven by the Q system to study factors contributing to imaginal disc repair. Using this technique, we demonstrate that methionine metabolism in the fat body, a counterpart of mammalian liver and adipose tissue, supports the repair processes of wing discs. Local injury to wing discs decreases methionine and S-adenosylmethionine, whereas it increases S-adenosylhomocysteine in the fat body. Fat body-specific genetic manipulation of methionine metabolism results in defective disc repair but does not affect normal wing development. Our data indicate the contribution of tissue interactions to tissue repair in Drosophila, as local damage to wing discs influences fat body metabolism, and proper control of methionine metabolism in the fat body, in turn, affects wing regeneration.

Nutritional Control of Stem Cell Division through S-Adenosylmethionine in Drosophila Intestine

The intestine has direct contact with nutritional information. The mechanisms by which particular dietary molecules affect intestinal homeostasis are not fully understood. In this study, we identified S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a universal methyl donor synthesized from dietary methionine, as a critical molecule that regulates stem cell division in Drosophila midgut. Depletion of either dietary methionine or SAM synthesis reduces division rate of intestinal stem cells. Genetic screening for putative SAM-dependent methyltransferases has identified protein synthesis as a regulator of the stem cells, partially through a unique diphthamide modification on eukaryotic elongation factor 2. In contrast, SAM in nutrient-absorptive enterocytes controls the interleukin-6-like protein Unpaired 3, which is required for rapid division of the stem cells after refeeding. Our study sheds light upon a link between diet and intestinal homeostasis and highlights the key metabolite SAM as a mediator of cell-type-specific starvation response.