Jimin Ren1,2, Craig R Malloy1,2,3, and A Dean Sherry1,2,4
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, 2Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, 3VA North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX, United States, 4Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States
Synopsis
A variety of nucleotide sugars (NS) are required for
glycosylation of proteins and lipids to enhance and diversify cellular
functions. The current 7T 31P MRS study, for the first time, reports the
detection of four different NS species in human brain in vivo. They are tentatively
assigned to UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, and
UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine, collectively denoted as UDP(G). These UDP(G) species
are responsible for the observation of a “quartet-like” signal at -9.8 ppm,
which cannot be explained by the presence of only a single UDP(G) species such
as UDP-glucose (as expected to be a simple doublet).
INTRODUCTION
A variety of
nucleotide sugars (NS) are required for glycosylation of proteins and lipids to
enhance and diversify cellular functions such as cell communication, cell
recognition and cell immune responses.1,2 Studies suggest that variations in NS
concentrations may influence the dynamics and diversity of glycosylation, and an
aberrant glycosylation may lead to immune-related diseases such as rheumatoid,
autoimmune disease, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, cancer and infections.3,4
However, at typically
low concentration, NS detection poses a great challenge to MRS for quantitative
analysis of NS composition in human tissues in vivo. Using 7T 31P MRS, it has
been reported that uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-Glc) can be measured in
human brain by a small but characteristic signal at -9.8 ppm.5 This
assignment assumes that the -9.8 ppm signal is a single doublet. However, the
newly acquired high SNR data from our lab reveal a more complex pattern for the
-9.8 ppm signal, suggesting co-existence of multiple NS species in human brain.
A lineshape data analysis indicates that the -9.8 ppm signal is contributed by four
major NS species including UDP hexoses and N-acetyl hexosamines. Although the presence of these two types of NS
in animal tissue extracts has been reported previously,6 to the best of our
knowledge, this is the first report of observation of UDP N-acetyl hexamine
species in human brain in vivo. METHODS
Seven healthy
subjects aged 31 ± 5 yr participated in the study with informed written consent
under a local IRB-approved protocol. Brain 31P spectra were acquired
in a 7T MRI scanner (Achieva, Philips Healthcare) using a half-cylinder-shaped
partial volume RF coil positioned under the brain posterior region. Time-domain FID signals were collected with a
pulse-acquire sequence in 16 sequential blocks each consisting of 64
acquisition averages at constant TR of 5 s, and B1 = 59 μT. Second order 1H-based
automatic volume shimming was applied prior to 31P spectral
acquisitions. The average linewidth of
PCr was 11.5 ± 0.5 Hz (n = 7 subjects).
The FID signals
were post-processed by zero-filling, apodization, Fourier transformation, and
phasing. Spectra from different data blocks were aligned at PCr (0 ppm) and
summed for data analysis, which included baseline correction and lineshape
fitting of the NAD(H) and UDP(G) 31P signals in the chemical shift region between
-7.5 and -10.5 ppm. The lineshape fitting assumed a singlet for NADH, a
AB-quartet for NAD+,7 and two weekly-coupled doublets for each
UDP(G) species. The concentrations of UDP(G) and NAD(H) were
referenced to α-ATP (3.0 mM). RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Figure 1 shows the summed brain 31P MR spectrum acquired at
7T, with a PCr overlay color map on a sagittal T2w imaging illustrating the
sensitive area of the coil in the occipital parietal region. The characteristic
signal at -9.8 ppm is attributed to UDP(G) phosphate group that is attached to a
sugar moiety. This signal clearly appeared as a quartet-like multiplet, rather
than a double as expected from a single NS species. Figure
2 shows the spectral fitting in the region between -7.5 and -10.5 ppm after
correction for baseline and a-ATP
contamination. The signal at -9.8 ppm was fitted by four doublets, collectively
contributed from UDP-Glc, UDP-Gal, UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-GalNAc. Each of these
UDP(G) species also contributed another doublet at ~-8.2 ppm, overlapping with
the signal of NAD(H) (a combination of NAD+ and NADH). The fitting results are
shown in Figure 3.
The combined concentration of all UDPG species averaged 0.45
mM in seven young healthy subjects. In comparison, NAD(H) averaged 0.53 mM and
ATP averaged 3.0 mM. There was a 2-fold variance among individual nucleotide
sugars with glucose being more abundant than galactose: UDP-GlcNA (0.15 mM)
versus UDP-GalNAc (0.11mM), and UDP-Glc (0.13 mM) versus UDP-Gal (0.06 mM), as
compared to the distribution of nucleotides NAD+ (0.46 mM) and NADH (0.06).
This finding is in consistent with the result of HPLC measurements from brain
extracts in animal models.6CONCLUSION
This is the first report of detecting multiple nucleotide sugars containing UDP-based hexoses and N-acetyl hexoamines in human brain in
vivo using 31P MRS. The capability of detecting these UDP(G) species in vivo
may offer a valuable tool to understand the interaction between these
detectable nucleotide sugars and the development of diseases, and to monitor
response to treatment. Acknowledgements
This
project was supported by the National Center for Research Resources and the
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National
Institutes of Health through P41EB015908, a grant from Clene Nanomedicine (CTA
201810-0025) and an internal UTSW-AIRC award FY18 IA0009.References
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