Protein Acetylation Induced by Dichloroacetate (DCA) Treatment is Associated with Decreased Respiration in Cultured Hepatocytes: Preliminary Results

Protein post-translational modification (PTM) by acetylation at the {varepsilon}-amine on lysine residues in proteins regulates various cellular processes including transcription and metabolism. Several metabolic and genetic perturbations are known to increase acetylation of various proteins. Hyper-acetylation can also be induced using deacetylase inhibitors. While there is much interest in discovering drugs that can reverse protein acetylation, pharmacological tools that increase non-enzymatic protein acetylation are needed in order to understand the physiological role of excess protein acetylation. In this study, I assessed whether inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDHK) could cause protein hyper-acetylation due to excess production of acetyl-CoA by pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). Western blot of total protein from dichloroacetate (DCA) treated hepatocytes with anti-acetyl-lysine antibody showed increased protein acetylation, and seahorse respirometry of DCA pretreated hepatocytes indicated a subtle decrease in basal and maximal respiratory capacity.