Deoxyhypusine Synthase Promotes a Pro-Inflammatory Macrophage Phenotype

Obesity is characterized by adipose tissue expansion, macrophage infiltration, and the development of chronic low-grade meta-inflammation that drives insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is the only protein known to be uniquely post-translationally modified and activated by deoxyhypusine synthase (DHPS) to generate a hypusine (Hyp) residue. Activated eIF5A controls the translation of a subset of mRNAs that play a role in inflammation, but a role for the DHPS/eIF5AHyp axis in obesity-associated adipose tissue inflammation has not been tested. We found DHPS/eIF5AHyp levels to be increased in the stromal vascular fraction of adipose tissue from mice fed a high fat diet and in murine macrophages activated to a proinflammatory M1 phenotype. DHPS deficiency in M1 macrophages decreased global mRNA translation and protein synthesis of key inflammatory mediators, IL-1β and MIP-1α. Transcriptomes of LPS+IFN-γ-stimulated DHPS-deficient macrophages revealed reduced characteristics of an M1 signature and a phenotypic switch consistent with characteristics of an anti-inflammatory M2 signature. In support of these observations, macrophage migration in a zebrafish tailfin injury model was reduced with chemical inhibition of DHPS, and DHPS deficiency in myeloid cells of HFD-fed mice inhibited M1 macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue and improved glucose tolerance. Together, these findings indicate that DHPS is required for the translation of a subset of mRNAs required for inflammation and chemotaxis in macrophages and may contribute to a proinflammatory M1-like phenotype.