Exploring the potential for branched chain keto-acids to inhibit the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier
Authors: McCommis Kyle , Menezes Thiago , Weiss Rachel , Ferguson Daniel , Cho Kevin , Michael Jessica , Pyles Kelly 
Published: May 2024

Metabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) is often dysregulated in obesity and diabetes. To be oxidized, BCAAs are first converted to branched chain keto-acids (BCKAs), which are structurally similar to pyruvic acid. Previous studies have suggested that BCKAs inhibit the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), particularly in hepatocytes, so we sought to investigate this further. Mitochondria were isolated from mouse liver and coupled pyruvate respiration was assessed before and after addition of either 100μM keto-leucine (alpha-ketoisocaproate), keto-isoleucine, keto-valine, an equimolar mixture of the 3 BCKAs, or NaCl control. Keto-leucine and the BCKA mixture reduced respiration by ~35%, but keto-isoleucine and keto-valine had no effect. This was repeated in mouse heart mitochondria, and again, only keto-leucine or the BCKA mixture reduced pyruvate respiration by ~30%. In comparison, 1μM of the synthetic MPC inhibitor UK-5099 reduced pyruvate respiration by 80%. In hepatocytes, most pyruvate is not oxidized but is carboxylated, which is an important first step for hepatic gluconeogenesis. Isolated hepatocytes were treated with pyruvate +/- BCKAs, and while UK-5099 reduced glucose production, none of the BCKAs had any effect. This experiment was repeated with 13C-pyruvate, and while UK-5099 reduced 13C enrichment into the hepatocyte TCA cycle, gluconeogenic intermediates, and glucose in the media, again none of the BCKAs had any effect. This lack of effect on gluconeogenesis may be due to the relatively mild inhibition and the ability of hepatocytes to perform pyruvate-alanine cycling to maintain some pyruvate carbon entry into the TCA cycle. Respiration was then assessed in MPC-deficient cardiac mitochondria, and keto-leucine and the BCKA mixture were no longer able to reduce pyruvate oxidation suggesting the effect is dependent on the MPC. Keto-leucine also had no effect on pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity of cardiac mitochondrial lysates, suggesting that the reduction in pyruvate oxidation is due to MPC inhibition and not reduced PDH activity. In a bioluminescent resonance energy transfer (BRET) assay which indicates inhibitor binding and MPC conformational change, while UK-5099 increased BRET, keto-leucine had no effect. Lastly, we hypothesized that rapid oxidation of the keto-leucine could explain the relatively mild inhibition of the MPC that we observe. Therefore, we repeated mitochondrial respiration studies in mitochondria isolated from PPM1K−/− mice which is the phosphatase that regulates the branched chain keto acid dehydrogenase (BCKDH) and BCKA oxidation. As expected, PPM1K−/− mitochondria displayed enhanced BCKDH phosphorylation, suggestive of inhibited BCKA oxidation. To our surprise, while pyruvate oxidation was inhibited by keto-leucine in WT mitochondria, this inhibition was completely lost in liver or heart mitochondria from PPM1K−/− mice. Altogether, these results suggest that a downstream metabolite of keto-leucine inhibits the MPC, via a mechanism that differs from synthetic MPC inhibitors. Ongoing studies are being performed to search for this downstream metabolite responsible for MPC inhibition. Saint Louis University School of Medicine internal sponsorship. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.