[Abstract unavailable

Mechanisms controlling the proliferative activity of neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs) have a pivotal role to ensure life-long neurogenesis in the mammalian brain1. How metabolic programs are coupled with NSPC activity remains unknown. Here we show that fatty acid synthase (Fasn), the key enzyme of de novo lipogenesis2, is highly active in adult NSPCs and that conditional deletion of Fasn in mouse NSPCs impairs adult neurogenesis. The rate of de novo lipid synthesis and subsequent proliferation of NSPCs is regulated by Spot14, a gene previously implicated in lipid metabolism3–5, that we found to be selectively expressed in low proliferating adult NSPCs. Spot14 reduces the availability of malonyl-CoA6, which is an essential substrate for Fasn to fuel lipogenesis. Thus, we identify here a functional coupling between the regulation of lipid metabolism and adult NSPC proliferation.

SummaryHippocampal neurogenesis is important for certain forms of cognition, and failing neurogenesis has been implicated in neuropsychiatric diseases. The neurogenic capacity of hippocampal neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) depends on a balance between quiescent and proliferative states. Here, we show that the rate of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) regulates the activity of NSPCs. Quiescent NSPCs show high levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a (Cpt1a)-dependent FAO, which is downregulated in proliferating NSPCs. Pharmacological inhibition and conditional deletion of Cpt1a in vitro and in vivo leads to altered NSPC behavior, showing that Cpt1a-dependent FAO is required for stem cell maintenance and proper neurogenesis. Strikingly, manipulation of malonyl-CoA, the metabolite that regulates levels of FAO, is sufficient to induce exit from quiescence and to enhance NSPC proliferation. Thus, the data presented here identify a shift in FAO metabolism that governs NSPC behavior and suggest an instructive role for fatty acid metabolism in regulating NSPC activity.

Peroxisomes play a central role in lipid metabolism, and their function depends on molecular oxygen. Low oxygen tension or von Hippel-Lindau (Vhl) tumor suppressor loss is known to stabilize hypoxia-inducible factors alpha (Hif-1α and Hif-2α) to mediate adaptive responses, but it remains unknown if peroxisome homeostasis and metabolism are interconnected with Hif-α signaling. By studying liver-specific Vhl, Vhl/Hif1α, and Vhl/Hif2α knockout mice, we demonstrate a regulatory function of Hif-2α signaling on peroxisomes. Hif-2α activation augments peroxisome turnover by selective autophagy (pexophagy) and thereby changes lipid composition reminiscent of peroxisomal disorders. The autophagy receptor Nbr1 localizes to peroxisomes and is likewise degraded by Hif-2α-mediated pexophagy. Furthermore, we demonstrate that peroxisome abundance is reduced in VHL-deficient human clear cell renal cell carcinomas with high HIF-2α levels. These results establish Hif-2α as a negative regulator of peroxisome abundance and metabolism and suggest a mechanism by which cells attune peroxisomal function with oxygen availability.

The relationship of the important cellulase producing asexual fungus Trichoderma reesei to its putative teleomorphic (sexual) ancestor Hypocrea jecorina and other species of the Trichoderma sect. Longibrachiatum was studied by PCR-fingerprinting and sequence analyses of the nuclear ribosomal DNA region containing the internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2) and the 5.8S rRNA gene. The differences in the corresponding ITS sequences allowed a grouping ofanamorphic (asexual) species of Trichoderma sect. Longibrachiatum into Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma pseudokoningii, and Trichoderma reesei. The sexual species Hypocrea schweinitzii and H. jecorina were also clearly separated from each other. H. jecorina and T. reesei exhibited identical sequences, suggesting close relatedness or even species identity. Intraspecific and interspecific variation in the PCR-fingerprinting patterns supported the differentiation of species based on ITS sequences, the grouping of the strains, and the assignment of these strains to individual species. The variations between T. reesei and H. jecorina were at the same order of magnitude as found between all strains ofH.jecorina, but much lower than the observed interspecific variations. Identical ITS sequences and the high similarity of PCRfingerprinting patterns indicate a very close relationship between T. reesei and H. jecorina, whereas differences of the ITS sequences and the PCR-fingerprinting patterns show a clear phylogenetic distance between T. reesei/H. jecorina and T. longibrachiatum. T. reesei is considered to be an asexual, clonal line derived from a population of the tropical ascomycete H. jecorina.Trichoderma reesei is an asexually reproducing filamentous fungus. Isolated in the Solomon Islands during World War II from cotton canvas, the species is unique because it is known only from a single isolate (QM6a). This isolate is renowned for its high ability to produce cellulases and it is the sole progenitor of the many mutants currently in use (1). T reesei is not known to undergo recombination through meiosis. Many deuteromycetes are permanently sexually incompetent (2, 3) and possibly clonal derivatives of life cycles that once included a meiosis, some aspect of an outcrossing mating system having been perturbed. Because Trichoderma is a genus of special economic interest-individual species are used in biological control (4, 5), in the production of cellulolytic and other hydrolytic enzymes (6, 7), and in antibiotics (8)-the identification of a teleomorph (sexual state) would be useful. The ability to recover meiotic progeny would provide a means to study biological properties using classical genetics, an approach that has proven invaluable in the study of the molecular biology of Neurospora crassa and Aspergillus nidulans (9). Further, teleomorphs are powerful predictors of taxonomic relationships, and related species can be expected to possess similar biological abilities. The question thus arises whether T. reesei, and many other fungi of economic i...