Identification of cisplatin-regulated metabolic pathways in pluripotent stem cells

PLoS One. 2013 Oct 16;8(10):e76476. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076476. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The chemotherapeutic compound, cisplatin causes various kinds of DNA lesions but also triggers other pertubations, such as ER and oxidative stress. We and others have shown that treatment of pluripotent stem cells with cisplatin causes a plethora of transcriptional and post-translational alterations that, to a major extent, point to DNA damage response (DDR) signaling. The orchestrated DDR signaling network is important to arrest the cell cycle and repair the lesions or, in case of damage beyond repair, eliminate affected cells. Failure to properly balance the various aspects of the DDR in stem cells contributes to ageing and cancer. Here, we performed metabolic profiling by mass spectrometry of embryonic stem (ES) cells treated for different time periods with cisplatin. We then integrated metabolomics with transcriptomics analyses and connected cisplatin-regulated metabolites with regulated metabolic enzymes to identify enriched metabolic pathways. These included nucleotide metabolism, urea cycle and arginine and proline metabolism. Silencing of identified proline metabolic and catabolic enzymes indicated that altered proline metabolism serves as an adaptive, rather than a toxic response. A group of enriched metabolic pathways clustered around the metabolite S-adenosylmethionine, which is a hub for methylation and transsulfuration reactions and polyamine metabolism. Enzymes and metabolites with pro- or anti-oxidant functions were also enriched but enhanced levels of reactive oxygen species were not measured in cisplatin-treated ES cells. Lastly, a number of the differentially regulated metabolic enzymes were identified as target genes of the transcription factor p53, pointing to p53-mediated alterations in metabolism in response to genotoxic stress. Altogether, our findings reveal interconnecting metabolic pathways that are responsive to cisplatin and may serve as signaling modules in the DDR in pluripotent stem cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arginine / metabolism
  • Cisplatin / pharmacology*
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways / drug effects*
  • Metabolome / drug effects
  • Metabolomics
  • Mice
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / enzymology
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Proline / metabolism
  • Purines / metabolism
  • Pyrimidines / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Transcriptome / drug effects
  • Transcriptome / genetics

Substances

  • Purines
  • Pyrimidines
  • Arginine
  • Proline
  • Cisplatin
  • purine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO): nr 050-060-510. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.