A druggable copper-signalling pathway that drives inflammation
Details
Publication Year 2023-05,Volume 617,Issue #7960,Page 386-394
Journal Title
Nature
Publication Type
Research article
Abstract
Inflammation is a complex physiological process triggered in response to harmful stimuli(1). It involves cells of the immune system capable of clearing sources of injury and damaged tissues. Excessive inflammation can occur as a result of infection and is a hallmark of several diseases(2-4). The molecular bases underlying inflammatory responses are not fully understood. Here we show that the cell surface glycoprotein CD44, which marks the acquisition of distinct cell phenotypes in the context of development, immunity and cancer progression, mediates the uptake of metals including copper. We identify a pool of chemically reactive copper(II) in mitochondria of inflammatory macrophages that catalyses NAD(H) redox cycling by activating hydrogen peroxide. Maintenance of NAD(+) enables metabolic and epigenetic programming towards the inflammatory state. Targeting mitochondrial copper(II) with supformin (LCC-12), a rationally designed dimer of metformin, induces a reduction of the NAD(H) pool, leading to metabolic and epigenetic states that oppose macrophage activation. LCC-12 interferes with cell plasticity in other settings and reduces inflammation in mouse models of bacterial and viral infections. Our work highlights the central role of copper as a regulator of cell plasticity and unveils a therapeutic strategy based on metabolic reprogramming and the control of epigenetic cell states.
Publisher
Springer Nature
Keywords
Animals; Mice; *Copper/metabolism; *Inflammation/drug therapy/genetics/immunology/metabolism/pathology; Macrophages/drug effects/immunology/metabolism/pathology; NAD/metabolism; *Signal Transduction/drug effects; Mitochondria/drug effects/metabolism; Hydrogen Peroxide/metabolism; Epigenesis, Genetic/drug effects; Metformin/analogs & derivatives; Oxidation-Reduction; *Cell Plasticity/drug effects/genetics; Macrophage Activation/drug effects/genetics
Department(s)
Laboratory Research; Clinical Haematology
PubMed ID
37100912
Open Access at Publisher's Site
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06017-4
Terms of Use/Rights Notice
Refer to copyright notice on published article.


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Last Modified: 2023-09-05 06:34:32

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