Ncl1 mediated metabolic rewiring critical during metabolic stress

Abstract Nutritional limitation has been vastly studied, however, there is limited knowledge of how cells maintain homeostasis in excess nutrients. In this study, using yeast as a model system, we show that some amino acids are toxic at higher concentrations. With cysteine as a physiologically relevant example, we delineated the pathways/processes that are altered and those that are involved in survival in presence of elevated levels of this amino acid. Using proteomics and metabolomics approach, we found that cysteine upregulates proteins involved in amino acid metabolism, alters amino acid levels, and inhibits protein translation, events that are rescued by leucine supplementation. Through a comprehensive genetic screen we show that leucine mediated effect depends on a tRNA methyltransferase (Ncl1), absence of which decouples cell’s transcription and translation, inhibits the conversation of leucine to ketoisocaproate and leads to TCA cycle block. We therefore, propose a role of Ncl1 in regulating metabolic homeostasis through translational control.