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Differential inhibition of PDKs by phenylbutyrate and enhancement of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity by combination with dichloroacetate
Author(s) -
Ferriero Rosa,
Iannuzzi Clara,
Manco Giuseppe,
BrunettiPierri Nicola
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of inherited metabolic disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1573-2665
pISSN - 0141-8955
DOI - 10.1007/s10545-014-9808-2
Subject(s) - pyruvate dehydrogenase complex , phenylbutyrate , dihydrolipoyl transacetylase , chemistry , pyruvate decarboxylation , pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase , oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex , biochemistry , medicine , enzyme , pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase
Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) is a key enzyme in metabolism linking glycolysis to tricarboxylic acid cycle and its activity is tightly regulated by phosphorylation catalyzed by four pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) isoforms. PDKs are pharmacological targets for several human diseases including cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart failure, and inherited PDHC deficiency. We investigated the inhibitory activity of phenylbutyrate toward PDKs and found that PDK isoforms 1‐to‐3 are inhibited whereas PDK4 is unaffected. Moreover, docking studies revealed putative binding sites of phenylbutyrate on PDK2 and 3 that are located on different sites compared to dichloroacetate (DCA), a previously known PDK inhibitor. Based on these findings, we showed both in cells and in mice that phenylbutyrate combined to DCA results in greater increase of PDHC activity compared to each drug alone. These results suggest that therapeutic efficacy can be enhanced by combination of drugs increasing PDHC enzyme activity.