Life-threatening hyperammonemia occurs in both inherited and acquired liver diseases affecting ureagenesis, the main pathway for detoxification of neurotoxic ammonia in mammals. Protein O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible and nutrient-sensitive post-translational modification using as substrate UDP-GlcNAc, the end-product of hexosamine biosynthesis pathway. Here we show that increased liver UDP-GlcNAc during hyperammonemia increases protein O-GlcNAcylation and enhances ureagenesis. Mechanistically, O-GlcNAcylation on specific threonine residues increased the catalytic efficiency for ammonia of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1), the rate-limiting enzyme in ureagenesis. Pharmacological inhibition of O-GlcNAcase, the enzyme removing O-GlcNAc from proteins, resulted in clinically relevant reductions of systemic ammonia in both genetic (hypomorphic mouse model of propionic acidemia) and acquired (thioacetamide-induced acute liver failure) mouse models of liver diseases. In conclusion, by fine-tuned control of ammonia entry into ureagenesis, hepatic O-GlcNAcylation of CPS1 increases ammonia detoxification and is a novel target for therapy of hyperammonemia in both genetic and acquired diseases.
O-GlcNAcylation enhances CPS1 catalytic efficiency for ammonia and promotes ureagenesis / Soria, Leandro R; Makris, Georgios; D'Alessio, Alfonso M; De Angelis, Angela; Boffa, Iolanda; Pravata, Veronica M; Rüfenacht, Véronique; Attanasio, Sergio; Nusco, Edoardo; Arena, Paola; Ferenbach, Andrew T; Paris, Debora; Cuomo, Paola; Motta, Andrea; Nitzahn, Matthew; Lipshutz, Gerald S; Martínez-Pizarro, Ainhoa; Richard, Eva; Desviat, Lourdes R; Häberle, Johannes; van Aalten, Daan M F; Brunetti-Pierri, Nicola. - In: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. - ISSN 2041-1723. - 13:1(2022), p. 5212. [10.1038/s41467-022-32904-x]
O-GlcNAcylation enhances CPS1 catalytic efficiency for ammonia and promotes ureagenesis
De Angelis, Angela;Brunetti-Pierri, Nicola
2022
Abstract
Life-threatening hyperammonemia occurs in both inherited and acquired liver diseases affecting ureagenesis, the main pathway for detoxification of neurotoxic ammonia in mammals. Protein O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible and nutrient-sensitive post-translational modification using as substrate UDP-GlcNAc, the end-product of hexosamine biosynthesis pathway. Here we show that increased liver UDP-GlcNAc during hyperammonemia increases protein O-GlcNAcylation and enhances ureagenesis. Mechanistically, O-GlcNAcylation on specific threonine residues increased the catalytic efficiency for ammonia of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1), the rate-limiting enzyme in ureagenesis. Pharmacological inhibition of O-GlcNAcase, the enzyme removing O-GlcNAc from proteins, resulted in clinically relevant reductions of systemic ammonia in both genetic (hypomorphic mouse model of propionic acidemia) and acquired (thioacetamide-induced acute liver failure) mouse models of liver diseases. In conclusion, by fine-tuned control of ammonia entry into ureagenesis, hepatic O-GlcNAcylation of CPS1 increases ammonia detoxification and is a novel target for therapy of hyperammonemia in both genetic and acquired diseases.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.