Untargeted Metabolomics Reveals Metabolic Link Between Histone H3K27 Demethylase UTX and Neurodevelopment

Ubiquitously transcribed tetratricopeptide repeat on chromosome X (UTX) is a chromatin modifier responsible for regulating the demethylation of histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), which is crucial for human neurodevelopment. To date, the impact of UTX on neurodevelopment remains elusive. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of UTX on neurodevelopment through untargeted metabolomics based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). We found that UTX knockout in neurones leads to cell death and apoptosis in the hippocampus and cortex, as well as induces impaired learning and memory functions in mice. Moreover, UTX deletion contributed to significant metabolic perturbations in brain tissues. A total of 223 differential metabolites were identified between wild-type (WT) and UTX cKO mice. Pathway analysis indicated that the metabolic pathways mainly affected by UTX deletion were alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, resulting in significant alterations in L-alanine, L-aspartate, D-aspartate, N-acetylaspartylglutamate, L-glutamate, and argininosuccinic acid. These data emphasised that UTX may exert a key effect in neurodevelopment and that the underlying mechanism may be related to the regulation of the alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism pathways, especially the characteristic metabolites involved in this pathway.