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Mitochondrial disorders arise from defects in nuclear genes encoding enzymes of oxidative metabolism. Mutations of metabolic enzymes in somatic tissues can cause cancers due to oncometabolite accumulation. Paraganglioma and pheochromocytoma are examples, whose etiology and therapy are complicated by the absence of representative cell lines or animal models. These tumors can be driven by loss of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme succinate dehydrogenase. We exploit the relationship between succinate accumulation, hypoxic signaling, egg-laying behavior, and morphology in C. elegans to create genetic and pharmacological models of succinate dehydrogenase loss disorders. With optimization, these models may enable future high-throughput screening efforts., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

DNA-protein loops can be essential for gene regulation. The Escherichia coli lactose (lac) operon is controlled by DNA-protein loops that have been studied for decades. Here we adapt this model to test the hypothesis that negative superhelical strain facilitates the formation of short-range (6-8 DNA turns) repression loops in E. coli. The natural negative superhelicity of E. coli DNA is regulated by the interplay of gyrase and topoisomerase enzymes, adding or removing negative supercoils, respectively. Here, we measured quantitatively DNA looping in three different E. coli strains characterized by different levels of global supercoiling: wild type, gyrase mutant (gyrB226), and topoisomerase mutant (ΔtopA10). DNA looping in each strain was measured by assaying repression of the endogenous lac operon, and repression of ten reporter constructs with DNA loop sizes between 70-85 base pairs. Our data are most simply interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that negative supercoiling facilitates gene repression by small DNA-protein loops in living bacteria., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Familial paraganglioma (PGL) is a rare neuroendocrine cancer associated with defects in the genes encoding the subunits of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzyme. For unknown reasons, a higher prevalence of PGL has been reported for humans living at higher altitude, with increased disease aggressiveness and morbidity. In this study, we evaluate the effects of oxygen on epigenetic changes due to succinate accumulation in three SDH loss cell culture models. We test the hypothesis that the mechanism of α-ketoglutarate (α-KG)-dependent dioxygenase enzymes explains the inhibitory synergy of hypoxia and succinate accumulation. We confirm that SDH loss leads to profound succinate accumulation. We further show that hypoxia and succinate accumulation synergistically inhibit α-KG-dependent dioxygenases leading to increased stabilization of transcription factor HIF1α, HIF2α, and hypermethylation of histones and DNA. Increasing oxygen suppresses succinate inhibition of α-KG-dependent dioxygenases. This result provides a possible explanation for the association between hypoxia and PGL, and suggests hyperoxia as a potential novel therapy.

Classical tumor suppressor genes block neoplasia by regulating cell growth and death. A remarkable puzzle is therefore presented by familial paraganglioma (PGL), a neuroendocrine cancer where the tumor suppressor genes encode subunits of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), an enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle of central metabolism. Loss of SDH initiates PGL through mechanisms that remain unclear. Could this metabolic defect provide a novel opportunity for chemotherapy of PGL? We report the results of high throughput screening to identify compounds differentially toxic to SDH mutant cells using a powerful S. cerevisiae (yeast) model of PGL. Screening more than 200,000 compounds identifies 12 compounds that are differentially toxic to SDH-mutant yeast. Interestingly, two of the agents, dequalinium and tetraethylthiuram disulfide (disulfiram), are anti-malarials with the latter reported to be a glycolysis inhibitor. We show that four of the additional hits are potent inhibitors of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase. Because alcohol dehydrogenase regenerates NAD(+) in glycolytic cells that lack TCA cycle function, this result raises the possibility that lactate dehydrogenase, which plays the equivalent role in human cells, might be a target of interest for PGL therapy. We confirm that human cells deficient in SDH are differentially sensitive to a lactate dehydrogenase inhibitor.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by local destruction of the insulating myelin surrounding neuronal axons. With more than 200 million MS patients worldwide, the absence of treatments that prevent progression or induce repair poses a major challenge. Anti-inflammatory therapies have met with limited success only in preventing relapses. Previous screening of human serum samples revealed natural IgM antibodies that bind oligodendrocytes and promote both cell signaling and remyelination of CNS lesions in an MS model involving chronic infection of susceptible mice by Theiler's encephalomyelitis virus and in the lysolecithin model of focal demyelination. This intriguing result raises the possibility that molecules with binding specificity for oligodendrocytes or myelin components may promote therapeutic remyelination in MS. Because of the size and complexity of IgM antibodies, it is of interest to identify smaller myelin-specific molecules with the ability to promote remyelination in vivo. Here we show that a 40-nucleotide single-stranded DNA aptamer selected for affinity to murine myelin shows this property. This aptamer binds multiple myelin components in vitro. Peritoneal injection of this aptamer results in distribution to CNS tissues and promotes remyelination of CNS lesions in mice infected by Theiler's virus. Interestingly, the selected DNA aptamer contains guanosine-rich sequences predicted to induce folding involving guanosine quartet structures. Relative to monoclonal antibodies, DNA aptamers are small, stable, and non-immunogenic, suggesting new possibilities for MS treatment.