Elevated Choline Kinase α-Mediated Choline Metabolism Supports the Prolonged Survival of TRAF3-Deficient B Lymphocytes.

Publication Year
2020

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

Specific deletion of the tumor suppressor TRAF3 from B lymphocytes in mice leads to the prolonged survival of mature B cells and expanded B cell compartments in secondary lymphoid organs. In the current study, we investigated the metabolic basis of TRAF3-mediated regulation of B cell survival by employing metabolomic, lipidomic, and transcriptomic analyses. We compared the polar metabolites, lipids, and metabolic enzymes of resting splenic B cells purified from young adult B cell-specific and littermate control mice. We found that multiple metabolites, lipids, and enzymes regulated by TRAF3 in B cells are clustered in the choline metabolic pathway. Using stable isotope labeling, we demonstrated that phosphocholine and phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis was markedly elevated in mouse B cells and decreased in TRAF3-reconstituted human multiple myeloma cells. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of choline kinase α, an enzyme that catalyzes phosphocholine synthesis and was strikingly increased in B cells, substantially reversed the survival phenotype of B cells both in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our results indicate that enhanced phosphocholine and phosphatidylcholine synthesis supports the prolonged survival of B lymphocytes. Our findings suggest that TRAF3-regulated choline metabolism has diagnostic and therapeutic value for B cell malignancies with deletions or relevant mutations.

Journal
J Immunol
Volume
204
Issue
2
Pages
459-471
Date Published
01/2020
ISSN Number
1550-6606
Alternate Journal
J. Immunol.
PMCID
PMC6946882
PMID
31826940