Excitatory synaptic transmission is accompanied by a local surge in interstitial lactate that occurs despite adequate oxygen availability, a puzzling phenomenon termed aerobic glycolysis. In addition to its role as an energy substrate, recent studies have shown that lactate modulates neuronal excitability acting through various targets, including NMDA receptors and G-protein-coupled receptors specific for lactate, but little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the increase in interstitial lactate. Using a panel of genetically encoded fluorescence nanosensors for energy metabolites, we show here that mouse astrocytes in culture, in cortical slices, and in vivo maintain a steady-state reservoir of lactate. The reservoir was released to the extracellular space immediately after exposure of astrocytes to a physiological rise in extracellular K ϩ or cell depolarization. Cell-attached patch-clamp analysis of cultured astrocytes revealed a 37 pS lactate-permeable ion channel activated by cell depolarization. The channel was modulated by lactate itself, resulting in a positive feedback loop for lactate release. A rapid fall in intracellular lactate levels was also observed in cortical astrocytes of anesthetized mice in response to local field stimulation. The existence of an astrocytic lactate reservoir and its quick mobilization via an ion channel in response to a neuronal cue provides fresh support to lactate roles in neuronal fueling and in gliotransmission.

Mitochondrial flux is currently accessible at low resolution. Here we introduce a genetically-encoded FRET sensor for pyruvate, and methods for quantitative measurement of pyruvate transport, pyruvate production and mitochondrial pyruvate consumption in intact individual cells at high temporal resolution. In HEK293 cells, neurons and astrocytes, mitochondrial pyruvate uptake was saturated at physiological levels, showing that the metabolic rate is determined by intrinsic properties of the organelle and not by substrate availability. The potential of the sensor was further demonstrated in neurons, where mitochondrial flux was found to rise by 300% within seconds of a calcium transient triggered by a short theta burst, while glucose levels remained unaltered. In contrast, astrocytic mitochondria were insensitive to a similar calcium transient elicited by extracellular ATP. We expect the improved resolution provided by the pyruvate sensor will be of practical interest for basic and applied researchers interested in mitochondrial function.

Edited by Mike Shipston Monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) is an H ؉-coupled symporter highly expressed in metastatic tumors and at inflammatory sites undergoing hypoxia or the Warburg effect. At these sites, extracellular lactate contributes to malignancy and immune response evasion. Intriguingly, at 30-40 mM, the reported K m of MCT4 for lactate is more than 1 order of magnitude higher than physiological or even pathological lactate levels. MCT4 is not thought to transport pyruvate. Here we have characterized cell lactate and pyruvate dynamics using the FRET sensors Laconic and Pyronic. Dominant MCT4 permeability was demonstrated in various cell types by pharmacological means and by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion. Respective K m values for lactate uptake were 1.7, 1.2, and 0.7 mM in MDA-MB-231 cells, macrophages, and HEK293 cells expressing recombinant MCT4. In MDA-MB-231 cells MCT4 exhibited a K m for pyruvate of 4.2 mM, as opposed to >150 mM reported previously. Parallel assays with the pH-sensitive dye 2,7-bis-(carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) indicated that previous K m estimates based on substrate-induced acidification were severely biased by confounding pH-regulatory mechanisms. Numerical simulation using revised kinetic parameters revealed that MCT4, but not the related transporters MCT1 and MCT2, endows cells with the ability to export lactate in highlactate microenvironments. In conclusion, MCT4 is a high-affinity lactate transporter with physiologically relevant affinity for pyruvate. Cancer cells ferment glucose to lactate in the presence of oxygen, a phenomenon originally described by Otto Warburg and colleagues in the 1920s and later found to promote tumor growth and malignancy (1-4). In addition to fostering glycolysis by end product removal, cytosolic alkalinization, and NADH recycling, the co-extrusion of lactate and protons causes inter

Neural activity is accompanied by a transient mismatch between local glucose and oxygen metabolism, a phenomenon of physiological and pathophysiological importance termed aerobic glycolysis. Previous studies have proposed glutamate and K + as the neuronal signals that trigger aerobic glycolysis in astrocytes. Here we used a panel of genetically encoded FRET sensors in vitro and in vivo to investigate the participation of NH + 4 , a by-product of catabolism that is also released by active neurons. Astrocytes in mixed cortical cultures responded to physiological levels of NH + 4 with an acute rise in cytosolic lactate followed by lactate release into the extracellular space, as detected by a lactate-sniffer. An acute increase in astrocytic lactate was also observed in acute hippocampal slices exposed to NH + 4 and in the somatosensory cortex of anesthetized mice in response to i.v. NH + 4 . Unexpectedly, NH + 4 had no effect on astrocytic glucose consumption. Parallel measurements showed simultaneous cytosolic pyruvate accumulation and NADH depletion, suggesting the involvement of mitochondria. An inhibitor-stop technique confirmed a strong inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake that can be explained by mitochondrial matrix acidification. These results show that physiological NH + 4 diverts the flux of pyruvate from mitochondria to lactate production and release. Considering that NH + 4 is produced stoichiometrically with glutamate during excitatory neurotransmission, we propose that NH + 4 behaves as an intercellular signal and that pyruvate shunting contributes to aerobic lactate production by astrocytes.B rain tissue is almost exclusively energized by the oxidation of glucose. However, during neuronal activation, there is a larger increase in local glucose consumption relative to oxygen consumption (1). As this mismatch occurs in the presence of normal or augmented oxygen levels, it has been termed aerobic glycolysis, paralleling the signal detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging (2). Aerobic glycolysis and its associated lactate surge are causally linked to diverse functions of the brain in health and disease (3-10). Two signals are known to trigger aerobic glycolysis in brain tissue: glutamate and K + , which are released by active neurons and stimulate glycolysis in astrocytes (11,12).Neurons produce as much NH + 4 as they produce glutamate, both molecules being stoichiometrically linked in the glutamateglutamine cycle (13). Brain tissue NH + 4 increases within seconds of neural activation (14-16) and is quickly released to the interstitium (17, 18) to be captured by astrocytes through K + channels and transporters (19). It is well established that chronic exposure to pathological levels of NH + 4 such as those observed during liver failure has a major impact on brain metabolism, but it is not known whether this molecule may affect energy metabolism at physiological levels, particularly within the time scale of synaptic transmission. A previous study showed a reversible rise in brain tissue la...

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Recent articles have drawn renewed attention to the housekeeping glucose transporter GLUT1 and its possible involvement in neurodegenerative diseases. Here we provide an updated analysis of brain glucose transport and the cellular mechanisms involved in its acute modulation during synaptic activity. We discuss how the architecture of the blood-brain barrier and the low concentration of glucose within neurons combine to make endothelial/glial GLUT1 the master controller of neuronal glucose utilization, while the regulatory role of the neuronal glucose transporter GLUT3 emerges as secondary. The nearcritical condition of glucose dynamics in the brain suggests that subtle deficits in GLUT1 function or its activitydependent control by neurons may contribute to neurodegeneration. V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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