Reduced Myocardial Serine Synthesis Impairs Functional, Metabolic, and Redox Adaptations to Cardiac Stress

Impaired myocardial metabolism is a defining feature of heart failure, but many defective pathways and mechanisms remain to be identified. Prior studies find phosphoglycerate kinase and its synthesized product 3-phospho-glycerate required for the serine synthetic pathway (SSP) are reduced in human HFpEF myocardium. As serine is also provided exogenously, the impact of SSP reduction is uncertain. Here, we tested if and how SSP decline coupled to phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) impacts cardiomyocyte (CM) and whole heart metabolic remodeling and stress responses.

Studies were performed in isolated CMs and mice with CM-selective knockdown of PHGDH. Using pharmacological inhibition or genetic silencing of PHGDH, we tested their impact on CM one-carbon metabolism pathways, cell hypertrophic responses, mitochondrial respiration, and in vivo functional, structural, and metabolic adaptations to pressure-overload stress.

In CMs, PHGDH inhibition caused dose-dependent serine depletion linearly coupled with cytotoxicity, accompanied by NAD/NADH and GSH/GSSG imbalance, reduced ATP, and disruption of one-carbon and nucleotide metabolites. Stable-isotope tracing revealed distinct metabolic fates of glucose-derived (SSP) versus exogenous serine. Exogenous serine did not rescue PHGDH-deficient CMs, whereas combined ribose and an anti-oxidant (DTT) attenuated injury and reduced nucleotide pools. PHGDH suppression reduced amino acid abundance, impaired nascent protein synthesis, and blunted endothelin-1-induced hypertrophic and mitochondrial respiration. In vivo, cardiomyocyte-specific PHGDH heterozygous mice (PHGDH^+/-) had no basal phenotype, but amplified chamber dilation, dysfunction, fibrosis, and mortality 4 weeks after transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Corresponding increases in amino acids, one-carbon metabolites, nucleotides, and TCA-cycle intermediates in wild-type TAC hearts were significantly blunted in PHGDH^+/- hearts.

Cardiomyocyte SSP is a critical regulator of redox balance, one-carbon metabolism, purine synthesis, amino acid homeostasis, and growth-related pathways required for cardiac adaptation to pressure overload. It is non-redundant with exogenous serine by providing distinct influences on key metabolic pathways and is a potential therapeutic target.