DDIT3 regulates key enzymes in the methionine cycle and flux during embryonic development

Abstract

One-carbon metabolism is a key metabolic network that integrates nutritional signals with embryonic development. However, the response of one-carbon metabolism to methionine status and the regulatory mechanisms are poorly understood. Herein, we found that methionine supplementation during pregnancy significantly increased fetal number and average fetal weight. In addition, methionine modulated one-carbon metabolism primarily through 2 metabolic enzymes, cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and methionine adenosyltransferase 2A (MAT2A), which were significantly increased in fetal liver tissues and porcine trophoblast (pTr) cells in response to proper methionine supplementation. CBS and MAT2A overexpression enhanced the DNA synthesis in pTr cells. More importantly, we identified a transcription factor, DNA damage-inducible transcript 3 (DDIT3), that was the primary regulator of CBS and MAT2A, which bound directly to promoters and negatively regulated the expression of CBS and MAT2A. Taken together, our findings identified that DDIT3 targeting CBS and MAT2A was a novel regulatory pathway that mediated cellular one-carbon metabolism in response to methionine signal and provided promising targets to improve pregnancy health.

Keywords: CBS; DDIT3; MAT2A; Methionine; embryo development; one-carbon metabolism.