Oizel, K. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2022

Shadow imaging for panoptical visualisation of living brain tissue

Progress in neuroscience research hinges on technical advances in visualizing living brain tissue with high fidelity and facility. Current neuroanatomical imaging approaches either require tissue fixation, do not have cellular resolution or only give a fragmented view. Here, we show how regular light microscopy together with fluorescence labeling of the interstitial fluid in the extracellular space provide comprehensive optical access in real-time to the anatomical complexity and dynamics of living brain tissue.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Formate induces a metabolic switch in nucleotide and energy metabolism

Formate is a precursor for the de novo synthesis of purine and deoxythymidine nucleotides. Formate also interacts with energy metabolism by promoting the synthesis of adenine nucleotides. Here we use theoretical modelling together with metabolomics analysis to investigate the link between formate, nucleotide and energy metabolism. We uncover that endogenous or exogenous formate induces a metabolic switch from low to high adenine nucleotide levels, increasing the rate of glycolysis and repressing the AMPK activity. Formate also induces an increase in the pyrimidine precursor orotate and the urea cycle intermediate argininosuccinate, in agreement with the ATP dependent activities of carbamoyl-phosphate and argininosuccinate synthetase. In vivo data for mouse and human cancers confirms the association between increased formate production, nucleotide and energy metabolism. Finally, the in vitro observations are recapitulated in mice following intraperitoneal injection of formate. We conclude that formate is a potent regulator of purine, pyrimidine and energy metabolism.

biochemistry↗