Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) has the ability to counter Th17 responses, but the full mechanisms remain elusive. Herein, we aimed to elucidate this process in view of cellular metabolism, especially glutaminolysis. Methods: MTT, CCK-8, Annexin V-FITC/PI staining or trypan blue exclusion assays were used to analyze cytotoxicity. Flow cytometry and Q-PCR assays were applied to determine Th17 responses. The detection of metabolite levels using commercial kits and rate-limiting enzyme expression using western blotting assays was performed to illustrate the metabolic activity. ChIP assays were used to examine H3K4me3 modifications. Mouse models of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis and house dust mite (HDM)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced asthma were established to confirm the mechanisms studied in vitro . Results: The PPARγ agonists rosiglitazone and pioglitazone blocked glutaminolysis but not glycolysis under Th17-skewing conditions, as indicated by the detection of intracellular lactate and α-KG and the fluorescence ratios of BCECF-AM. The PPARγ agonists prevented the utilization of glutamine and thus directly limited Th17 responses even when Foxp3 was deficient. The mechanisms were ascribed to restricted conversion of glutamine to glutamate by reducing the expression of the rate-limiting enzyme GLS1, which was confirmed by GLS1 overexpression. Replenishment of α-KG and 2-HG but not succinate weakened the effects of PPARγ agonists, and α-KG-promoted Th17 responses were dampened by siIDH1/2. Inhibition of KDM5 but not KDM4/6 restrained the inhibitory effect of PPARγ agonists on IL-17A expression, and the H3K4me3 level in the promoter and CNS2 region of the il-17 gene locus down-regulated by PPARγ agonists was rescued by 2-HG and GLS1 overexpression. However, the limitation of PPARγ agonists on the mRNA expression of RORγt was unable to be stopped by 2-HG but was attributed to GSH/ROS signals subsequent to GLS1. The exact role of PPARγ was proved by GW9662 or PPARγ knockout, and the mechanisms for PPARγ-inhibited Th17 responses were further confirmed by GLS1 overexpression in vivo . Conclusion: PPARγ agonists repressed Th17 responses by counteracting GLS1-mediated glutaminolysis/2-HG/H3K4me3 and GSH/ROS signals, which is beneficial for Th17 cell-related immune dysregulation.
With the rapid development of immunometabolism , 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG) is being promoted as a key immunometabolite to regulate the immune system. Based on the well-established crosstalk between 2-HG and other immunometabolites, here we firstly constructed a 2-HG metabolic panel by mapping the related metabolic pathways. Quantitative methods to globally monitor 2-HG metabolic panel are of great importance for immunometabolism study. However, the existence of enantiomer hampers the accurate measurement of these immunometabolites. This study addressed an original isotopically-paired chiral derivatization approach for UPLC-MS/MS quantification of 2-HG metabolic panel. To achieve better chromatographic separation, N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)-L-phenylalanyl chloride (TSPC) was utilized as an optical resolving reagent to form diastereomers . For accurate quantitation, an 18 O 2 -labeled-TSPC reagent was designed and readily synthesized to produce one-to-one internal standards. The developed approach enabled an accurate quantification of 13 immunometabolites in 2-HG metabolic panel with good linearity (R 2 > 0.99) and high sensitivity (0.5–120 fmol for LLOQ). With this method, we were able to simultaneously monitor the specific alterations of 2-HG metabolic panel in collagen-induced rheumatoid arthritis (CIA) rats. The measured levels of this panel ranged from 0.02 to 85.14 μg g −1 for synovium tissue and 0.012 to 87.75 μmol L −1 for serum samples. We envisage that the present isotopically-paired chiral derivatization approach will be practicable for different bio-samples to quantitatively profile the amino- and hydroxyl acids submetabolome, especially for the endogenous enantiomers. By virtue of the low cost of reagents and the simple procedure used in the assay, this method could be readily implemented.