Chemical activation of SAT1 corrects diet-induced metabolic syndrome

• Published in: Cell death and differentiation Vol. 27; no. 10; pp. 2904 - 2920
• Main Authors: Castoldi, Francesca, Hyvönen, Mervi T., Durand, Sylvère, Aprahamian, Fanny, Sauvat, Allan, Malik, Shoaib A., Baracco, Elisa Elena, Vacchelli, Erika, Opolon, Paule, Signolle, Nicolas, Lefevre, Déborah, Bossut, Noelie, Eisenberg, Tobias, Dammbrueck, Christopher, Pendl, Tobias, Kremer, Margerie, Lachkar, Sylvie, Einer, Claudia, Michalke, Bernhard, Zischka, Hans, Madeo, Frank, Keinänen, Tuomo A., Maiuri, Maria Chiara, Pietrocola, Federico, Kroemer, Guido
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13/51; 14/1; 14/19; 38/77; 631/45/173; 631/92/1643; 64/60; 82/29; 82/58; Acetyltransferase; Acetyltransferases - metabolism; Age; Animals; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Cell Cycle Analysis; Chelating Agents - pharmacology; Copper; Diet; Diet, High-Fat; Enzymatic activity; Glucose tolerance; High fat diet; Intolerance; Leptin; Life Sciences; Male; Metabolic syndrome; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; N1-acetyltransferase; Obesity; Obesity - chemically induced; Obesity - drug therapy; Phagocytosis; Polyamines; Spermidine; Spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase; Spermine; Stem Cells; Sucrose; Trientine - analogs & derivatives; Wilson's disease
• ISSN: 1350-9047; 1476-5403; 1476-5403
• DOI: 10.1038/s41418-020-0550-z

The pharmacological targeting of polyamine metabolism is currently under the spotlight for its potential in the prevention and treatment of several age-associated disorders. Here, we report the finding that triethylenetetramine dihydrochloride (TETA), a copper-chelator agent that can be safely administered to patients for the long-term treatment of Wilson disease, exerts therapeutic benefits in animals challenged with hypercaloric dietary regimens. TETA reduced obesity induced by high-fat diet, excessive sucrose intake, or leptin deficiency, as it reduced glucose intolerance and hepatosteatosis, but induced autophagy. Mechanistically, these effects did not involve the depletion of copper from plasma or internal organs. Rather, the TETA effects relied on the activation of an energy-consuming polyamine catabolism, secondary to the stabilization of spermidine/spermine N 1 -acetyltransferase-1 (SAT1) by TETA, resulting in enhanced enzymatic activity of SAT. All the positive effects of TETA on high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome were lost in SAT1-deficient mice. Altogether, these results suggest novel health-promoting effects of TETA that might be taken advantage of for the prevention or treatment of obesity.