Non-canonical nuclear function of glutaminase cooperates with Wnt signaling to drive EMT during neural crest development

Nioosha Nekooie Marnany (), Alwyn Dady, Isabelle Duband-Goulet, Frédéric Relaix, Roberto Motterlini, Roberta Foresti, Sylvie Dufour () and Jean-Loup Duband ()
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Nioosha Nekooie Marnany: Université Paris-Est Créteil
Alwyn Dady: Université Paris-Est Créteil
Isabelle Duband-Goulet: Université Paris Cité
Frédéric Relaix: Université Paris-Est Créteil
Roberto Motterlini: Université Paris-Est Créteil
Roberta Foresti: Université Paris-Est Créteil
Sylvie Dufour: Université Paris-Est Créteil
Jean-Loup Duband: Université Paris-Est Créteil

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: Abstract Metabolic reprograming has been linked to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells, but how it influences EMT in normal cells remains largely unknown. Here we explored how metabolism impacts delamination and migration of avian trunk neural crest cells, an important progenitor cell population of the vertebrate embryo. We report that delamination exhibits a quiescent metabolic phenotype whereas migration is characterized by OXPHOS-driven metabolism coupled to distinct expression of metabolic, EMT and developmental genes. While glucose and glutamine are required for delamination and migration, we uncover a specific role for glutamine and its catabolizing enzyme glutaminase in the unfolding of NCC delamination. Namely, glutamine is required for nuclear accumulation of glutaminase, which interacts and cooperates with Wnt signaling to regulate EMT gene expression and cell cycle during delamination. Our data indicate that similarly to cancer cells, embryonic cells engage metabolic enzymes for non-canonical signaling functions to connect metabolism with EMT.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58573-0

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