Cited by 254Mitochondrial Function and PathologyMetabolism, Diabetes, and CancerAdipose Tissue and Metabolism

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 41 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Pharmacological Inhibition of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerases Improves Fitness and Mitochondrial Function in Skeletal Muscle

Open access

Abstract

SUMMARY We previously demonstrated that the deletion of the poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (Parp)-1 gene in mice enhances oxidative metabolism, thereby protecting against diet-induced obesity. However, the therapeutic use of PARP inhibitors to enhance mitochondrial function remains to be explored. Here, we show tight negative correlation between Parp-1 expression and energy expenditure in heterogeneous mouse populations, indicating that variations in PARP-1 activity have an impact on metabolic homeostasis. Notably, these genetic correlations can be translated into pharmacological applications. Long-term treatment with PARP inhibitors enhances fitness in mice by increasing the abundance of mitochondrial respiratory complexes and boosting mitochondrial respiratory capacity. Furthermore, PARP inhibitors reverse mitochondrial defects in primary myotubes of obese humans and attenuate genetic defects of mitochondrial metabolism in human fibroblasts and C. elegans. Overall, our work validates in worm, mouse and human models that PARP inhibition may be used to treat both genetic and acquired muscle dysfunction linked to defective mitochondrial function.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

Long-term pharmacological PARP inhibition with MRL-45696 improves mitochondrial function, endurance, and metabolic health in mice, and rescues mitochondrial defects in worm and human cell models. The effects require SIRT1 and are linked to increased mitochondrial respiratory complex abundance, mitochondrial translation, and UPRmt induction.

Key findings

  • In HFD-fed male C57BL/6J mice, MRL-45696 (50 mg/kg/day, 18 wks) blunted diet-induced body weight gain and fat accumulation, increased energy expenditure without changing activity or food intake, reduced skeletal muscle total PARP activity by −50%, increased muscle NAD+, and activated SIRT1 (lower FOXO1 acetylation) but not SIRT3.
  • In chow-fed mice, MRL-45696 increased running distance, VO2max, maximal respiration in permeabilized EDL fibers, citrate synthase activity, oleic acid oxidation by ~50%, oxidative fiber markers (MHCI increased, MHCIIb decreased), and insulin sensitivity; these effects were absent in muscle-specific SIRT1-deficient mice.
  • MRL-45696 increased mitochondrial respiratory complex abundance without changing mtDNA abundance, enhanced mitochondrial but not cytosolic protein translation, caused mitonuclear protein imbalance, and increased UPRmt markers ClpP and Hsp60.
  • In BXD mouse strains, muscle Parp-1 expression varied 1.3-fold and negatively correlated with night VO2, VO2max improvement after 10 days training, and Tnni1, while positively correlating with body weight, Tnnc2, and Tnni2; in C. elegans mev-1 mutants, MRL-45696 inhibited PARP and increased OCR, and in NDUFS1 mutant human fibroblasts (complex I activity reduced by 87%) and primary myotubes from obese humans, it increased NAD+, OCR, lipid oxidation, and citrate synthase activity.

Methods

  • In vitro studies used C2C12 myotubes, MEFs, NDUFS1 mutant human fibroblasts, and primary myotubes from obese patients; PARP inhibitors compared included BSI-201, PJ-34, ABT-888, AZD-2281, and MRL-45696, with assays for NAD+, redox potential, mitochondrial membrane potential, OCR, translation, and mitochondrial complexes.
  • In vivo studies used 10-week-old male C57BL/6J mice fed HFD or chow with MRL-45696 (50 mg/kg/day) for 18 wks, SIRT1skm−/− mice, BXD mouse genetic reference population correlations via GeneNetwork, and C. elegans mev-1 mutants; analyses included respirometry in permeabilized EDL fibers, hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, histology, blue native page, and statistics by t-test or ANOVA with p<0.05.

Limitations

  • The paper states that further work must be done to ensure the safety and feasibility of PARP inhibitors for non-life-threatening diseases, and it notes prior concerns about chronic genomic instability and combined PARP-1/PARP-2 inhibition.
  • Evident from the text: many molecular and cellular protocols are in Supplemental Procedures rather than the main text, several outcomes (e.g., running distance) lack exact numerical values, human evidence comes from cultured fibroblasts and myotubes rather than clinical trials, and mouse findings rely on male C57BL/6J and specific genetic models.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cmet.2014.04.002

Cites

41 of 41 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Claims the paper makes

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Show all 56 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 32
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 7
37 of 37
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Parp-1 expression levels in skeletal muscle serve as a proxy for PARP-1 activity.

    “Parp-1 expression varied 1.3-fold in skeletal muscle of the BXD strains, enabling the study of gene expression correlations (Figure 4A).”
    “This robust genetic correlation suggests a physiological influence of PARP-1 activity on oxidative metabolism.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Primary myotubes from obese patients are a valid model for skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in obese humans.

    “MRL-45696 effectively abrogated PARP activation, enhanced NAD+ levels (Figures 4K and 4L) and stimulated OCR (Figure 4M) in primary myotubes from obese patients (Timmers et al., 2012).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    NDUFS1 mutant fibroblasts are a valid model for genetic mitochondrial defects in humans.

    “To test whether these observations could also apply in human models, we used skin fibroblasts from a patient with a mutation in the nuclear NDUFS1 gene, which reduced complex I activity by 87% (Bugiani et al., 2004).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    C. elegans mev-1 mutants are a valid model for genetic mitochondrial defects in humans.

    “To elucidate whether Paribs could recover mitochondrial function in models with genetically determined mitochondrial defects, we first used the C. elegans mev-1 strain, which contains a missense mutation in cyt-1, the worm homolog of mammalian succinate dehydrogenase cytochrome b, a component of complex II (Senoo-Matsuda et al., 2001).”
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Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Citrate synthase result names a different compound

    Minor

    The muscle experiment is described as treatment with MRL-45696, but its citrate synthase result is attributed to MRL-45595.

  • Long-term treatment dose has conflicting units

    Minor

    The results give the MRL-45696 dose as 50 mg/kg/day, whereas the long-term animal procedure gives 50 mg/g/kg. These are not the same dosing units.

  • Worm respiration is described as both inhibited and increased

    Minor

    The text says MRL-45696 inhibited oxygen consumption in mev-1 mutants, then describes increased respiration in those mutants as the basis for improved motility.

3 of 3

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Metadata

Authors
Pirinen, E., Cantó, C., Jo, Y. S., Morato, L., Zhang, H., Menzies, K. J., Williams, E. G., Mouchiroud, L., Moullan, N., Hagberg, C., Li, W., Timmers, S., Imhof, R., Verbeek, J., Pujol, A., van Loon, B., Viscomi, C., Zeviani, M., Schrauwen, P., Sauve, A. A., Schoonjans, K., & Auwerx, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
  • Karolinska Institutet (SE)
  • Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
  • Maastricht University Medical Centre (NL)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven (BE)
  • Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
  • Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta (IT)
Corresponding author
  • Cantó, Carles
  • Auwerx, Johan
Venue
Cell Metabolism
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-06
Volume
19
Issue
6
Pages
1034-1041
ISSN
1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2043299439
Cited by
254
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 10
FWCI
11.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
  • YUHSpace (Yonsei University Medical Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
  • Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (125487, 31003A, 124713)
  • Suomen Kulttuurirahasto
  • Saastamoisen säätiö
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Health Science Center, University of Tennessee (R01AG043930)
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG043930)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL106511-01A, R01HL106511)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM106072)
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (322424)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
Keywords
PARP1, PARP inhibitors, mitochondrial function, skeletal muscle, energy expenditure, mitochondrial dysfunction, obesity, exercise fitness, myotubes, Caenorhabditis elegans, metabolic homeostasis
MeSH terms
Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors, Animals, Benzamides, Benzimidazoles, Cells, Cultured, Energy Metabolism, Enzyme Inhibitors, Humans, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mitochondria, Obesity, Phthalazines, Piperazines, Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases, Caenorhabditis elegans, Mice, Knockout, Muscle Fibers, Skeletal, Mice, Sirtuin 1

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