Jens Niklas

Metabolic flux analysis in eukaryotes.

Metabolic flux analysis (MFA) represents a powerful tool for systems biology research on eukaryotic cells. This review describes recent advances, the challenges as well as applications of metabolic flux analysis comprising fungi, mammalian cells and plants. While MFA is widely established and applied in microorganisms, it remains still a challenge to adapt these methods to eukaryotic cell systems having a higher complexity particularly concerning compartmentation or media composition. In fungi MFA was used in the past few years to analyze a variety of conditions and factors and their effects on cellular metabolism. In mammalian cells MFA was applied mainly in cell culture technology and in medical and toxicological research. (13)C metabolic studies on native whole plants are additionally challenging by the fact that CO(2) is usually the only carbon source.

Quantitative characterization of metabolism and metabolic shifts during growth of the new human cell line AGE1.HN using time resolved metabolic flux analysis.

For the improved production of vaccines and therapeutic proteins, a detailed understanding of the metabolic dynamics during batch or fed-batch production is requested. To study the new human cell line AGE1.HN, a flexible metabolic flux analysis method was developed that is considering dynamic changes in growth and metabolism during cultivation. This method comprises analysis of formation of cellular components as well as conversion of major substrates and products, spline fitting of dynamic data and flux estimation using metabolite balancing. During batch cultivation of AGE1.HN three distinct phases were observed, an initial one with consumption of pyruvate and high glycolytic activity, a second characterized by a highly efficient metabolism with very little energy spilling waste production and a third with glutamine limitation and decreasing viability. Main events triggering changes in cellular metabolism were depletion of pyruvate and glutamine. Potential targets for the improvement identified from the analysis are (i) reduction of overflow metabolism in the beginning of cultivation, e.g. accomplished by reduction of pyruvate content in the medium and (ii) prolongation of phase 2 with its highly efficient energy metabolism applying e.g. specific feeding strategies. The method presented allows fast and reliable metabolic flux analysis during the development of producer cells and production processes from microtiter plate to large scale reactors with moderate analytical and computational effort. It seems well suited to guide media optimization and genetic engineering of producing cell lines.

Effects of drugs in subtoxic concentrations on the metabolic fluxes in human hepatoma cell line Hep G2.

Commonly used cytotoxicity assays assess the toxicity of a compound by measuring certain parameters which directly or indirectly correlate to the viability of the cells. However, the effects of a given compound at concentrations considerably below EC(50) values are usually not evaluated. These subtoxic effects are difficult to identify but may eventually cause severe and costly long term problems such as idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity. We determined the toxicity of three hepatotoxic compounds, namely amiodarone, diclofenac and tacrine on the human hepatoma cell line Hep G2 using an online kinetic respiration assay and analysed the effects of subtoxic concentrations of these drugs on the cellular metabolism by using metabolic flux analysis. Several changes in the metabolism could be detected upon exposure to subtoxic concentrations of the test compounds. Upon exposure to diclofenac and tacrine an increase in the TCA-cycle activity was observed which could be a signature of an uncoupling of the oxidative phosphorylation. The results indicate that metabolic flux analysis could serve as an invaluable novel tool for the investigation of the effects of drugs. The described methodology enables tracking the toxicity of compounds dynamically using the respiration assay in a range of concentrations and the metabolic flux analysis permits interesting insights into the changes in the central metabolism of the cell upon exposure to drugs.

Metabolic flux analysis in systems biology of mammalian cells.

Reaction rates or metabolic fluxes reflect the integrated phenotype of genome, transcriptome and proteome interactions, including regulation at all levels of the cellular hierarchy. Different methods have been developed in the past to analyse intracellular fluxes. However, compartmentation of mammalian cells, varying utilisation of multiple substrates, reversibility of metabolite uptake and production, unbalanced growth behaviour and adaptation of cells to changing environment during cultivation are just some reasons that make metabolic flux analysis (MFA) in mammalian cell culture more challenging compared to microorganisms. In this article MFA using the metabolite balancing methodology and the advantages and disadvantages of (13)C MFA in mammalian cell systems are reviewed. Application examples of MFA in the optimisation of cell culture processes for the production of biopharmaceuticals are presented with a focus on the metabolism of the main industrial workhorse. Another area in which mammalian cell culture plays a key role is in medical and toxicological research. It is shown that MFA can be used to understand pathophysiological mechanisms and can assist in understanding effects of drugs or other compounds on cellular metabolism.

An integrated approach to improved toxicity prediction for the safety assessment during preclinical drug development using Hep G2 cells.

Efficient and accurate safety assessment of compounds is extremely important in the preclinical development of drugs especially when hepatotoxicity is in question. Multiparameter and time resolved assays are expected to greatly improve the prediction of toxicity by assessing complex mechanisms of toxicity. An integrated approach is presented in which Hep G2 cells and primary rat hepatocytes are compared in frequently used cytotoxicity assays for parent compound toxicity. The interassay variability was determined. The cytotoxicity assays were also compared with a reliable alternative time resolved respirometric assay. The set of training compounds consisted of well known hepatotoxins; amiodarone, carbamazepine, clozapine, diclofenac, tacrine, troglitazone and verapamil. The sensitivity of both cell systems in each tested assay was determined. Results show that careful selection of assay parameters and inclusion of a kinetic time resolved assay improves prediction for non-metabolism mediated toxicity using Hep G2 cells as indicated by a sensitivity ratio of 1. The drugs with EC(50) values 100 microM or lower were considered toxic. The difference in the sensitivity of the two cell systems to carbamazepine which causes toxicity via reactive metabolites emphasizes the importance of human cell based in-vitro assays. Using the described system, primary rat hepatocytes do not offer advantage over the Hep G2 cells in parent compound toxicity evaluation. Moreover, respiration method is non invasive, highly sensitive and allows following the time course of toxicity. Respiration assay could serve as early indicator of changes that subsequently lead to toxicity.

Metabolite channeling and compartmentation in the human cell line AGE1.HN determined by 13C labeling experiments and 13C metabolic flux analysis

This study focused on analyzing active pathways and the metabolic flux distribution in human neuronal AGE1.HN cells that is a desirable basis for a rational design and optimization of producing cell lines and production processes for biopharmaceuticals. (13)C-labeling experiments and (13)C metabolic flux analysis were conducted using glucose, glutamine, alanine and lactate tracers in parallel experiments. Connections between cytosolic and mitochondrial metabolite pools were verified, e.g., flux from TCA cycle metabolite (13)C to glycolytic metabolites. It was also found that lactate and alanine are produced from the same pyruvate pool and that consumed alanine is mainly directly metabolized and secreted as lactate. Activity of the pentose phosphate pathway was low being around 2.3% of the glucose uptake flux. This might be compensated in AGE1.HN by high mitochondrial malic enzyme flux producing NADPH. Mitochondrial pyruvate transport was almost zero. Instead pyruvate carbons were channeled via oxaloacetate into the TCA cycle which was mainly fed via α-ketoglutarate and oxaloacetate during the investigated phase. The data indicate that further optimization of this cell line should focus on the improved substrate usage which can be accomplished by an improved connectivity between glycolytic and mitochondrial pyruvate pools or by better control of the substrate uptake.

A multi-scale modeling framework for individualized, spatiotemporal prediction of drug effects and toxicological risk.

In this study, we focus on a novel multi-scale modeling approach for spatiotemporal prediction of the distribution of substances and resulting hepatotoxicity by combining cellular models, a 2D liver model, and whole body model. As a case study, we focused on predicting human hepatotoxicity upon treatment with acetaminophen based on in vitro toxicity data and potential inter-individual variability in gene expression and enzyme activities. By aggregating mechanistic, genome-based in silico cells to a novel 2D liver model and eventually to a whole body model, we predicted pharmacokinetic properties, metabolism, and the onset of hepatotoxicity in an in silico patient. Depending on the concentration of acetaminophen in the liver and the accumulation of toxic metabolites, cell integrity in the liver as a function of space and time as well as changes in the elimination rate of substances were estimated. We show that the variations in elimination rates also influence the distribution of acetaminophen and its metabolites in the whole body. Our results are in agreement with experimental results. What is more, the integrated model also predicted variations in drug toxicity depending on alterations of metabolic enzyme activities. Variations in enzyme activity, in turn, reflect genetic characteristics or diseases of individuals. In conclusion, this framework presents an important basis for efficiently integrating inter-individual variability data into models, paving the way for personalized or stratified predictions of drug toxicity and efficacy.

Doxorubicin Increases Oxidative Metabolism in HL-1 Cardiomyocytes as Shown by 13C Metabolic Flux Analysis

Doxorubicin (DXR), an anticancer drug, is limited in its use due to severe cardiotoxic effects. These effects are partly caused by disturbed myocardial energy metabolism. We analyzed the effects of therapeutically relevant but nontoxic DXR concentrations for their effects on metabolic fluxes, cell respiration, and intracellular ATP. (13)C isotope labeling studies using [U-(13)C(6)]glucose, [1,2-(13)C(2)]glucose, and [U-(13)C(5)]glutamine were carried out on HL-1 cardiomyocytes exposed to 0.01 and 0.02 μM DXR and compared with the untreated control. Metabolic fluxes were calculated by integrating production and uptake rates of extracellular metabolites (glucose, lactate, pyruvate, and amino acids) as well as (13)C-labeling in secreted lactate derived from the respective (13)C-labeled substrates into a metabolic network model. The investigated DXR concentrations (0.01 and 0.02 μM) had no effect on cell viability and beating of the HL-1 cardiomyocytes. Glycolytic fluxes were significantly reduced in treated cells at tested DXR concentrations. Oxidative metabolism was significantly increased (higher glucose oxidation, oxidative decarboxylation, TCA cycle rates, and respiration) suggesting a more efficient use of glucose carbon. These changes were accompanied by decrease of intracellular ATP. We conclude that DXR in nanomolar range significantly changes central carbon metabolism in HL-1 cardiomyocytes, which results in a higher coupling of glycolysis and TCA cycle. The myocytes probably try to compensate for decreased intracellular ATP, which in turn may be the result of a loss of NADH electrons via either formation of reactive oxygen species or electron shunting.

Selective permeabilization for the high-throughput measurement of compartmented enzyme activities in mammalian cells

Permeabilization was evaluated as a rapid method to prepare mammalian cells for subcellular enzyme activity measurement. It was observed that enzymes can be measured directly in cell suspensions permeabilized by Triton X-100 and digitonin with various concentrations. Total enzyme activities measured in permeabilized cells were identical to those measured in sonicated cells showing that permeabilization can replace the more complicated sonication method. Tuning of digitonin concentration allowed selective permeabilization of plasma and mitochondrial membranes. This was studied by analyzing the release of extramitochondrial and mitochondrial marker enzymes on treatment with different concentrations of the agent. Solely the plasma membrane was permeabilized by using 0.01-0.02% (w/v) digitonin. Access to all cellular enzymes was achieved by using 0.05% (v/v) Triton X-100. This selective permeabilization was further evaluated in a 96-well plate format by testing additional marker enzymes and additional cell lines, Hep G2 and CHO-K1, applying the developed protocol. The presented method is well suited for the high-throughput analysis of subcellular localization and activity of enzymes. The method is simple and enables one to distinguish between mitochondrial and extramitochondrial activities, which is usually achieved only by much more complicated and time-consuming cell preparation.

Primary metabolism in the new human cell line AGE1.HN at various substrate levels: increased metabolic efficiency and α1-antitrypsin production at reduced pyruvate load.

Metabolic responses of the new neuronal human cell line AGE1.HN to various substrate levels were analyzed in this study showing that reduced substrate and especially pyruvate load improves metabolic efficiency, leading to improved growth and α1-antitrypsin (A1AT) production. The adaptation of the metabolism to different pyruvate and glutamine concentrations was analyzed in detail using a full factorial design. The most important finding was an increasingly inefficient use of substrates as well as the reduction of cell proliferation with increasing pyruvate concentrations in the medium. Cultivations with different feeding profiles showed that the highest viable cell density and A1AT concentration (167% of batch) was reached in the culture with the lowest glucose level and without pyruvate feeding. Analysis of metabolic fluxes in the differently fed cultures revealed a more efficient metabolic phenotype in the cultures without pyruvate feeding. The measured in vitro enzyme activities of the selected enzymes involved in pyruvate metabolism were lower in AGE1.HN compared with CHO cells, which might explain the higher sensitivity and different adaptation of AGE1.HN to increased pyruvate concentrations. The results indicate on the one hand that increasing the connectivity between glycolysis and the TCA cycle might improve substrate use and, finally, the production of A1AT. On the other hand, a better balanced substrate uptake promises a reduction of energy spilling which is increased with increasing substrate levels in this cell line. Overall, the results of this study provide important insights into the regulation of primary metabolism and into the adaptation of AGE1.HN to different substrate levels, providing guidance for further optimization of production cell lines and applied process conditions.