Probing asparagine and aspartate metabolism in T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma using nuclear magnetic resonance

Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer and the 7th most common of all cancers. The most common treatment for it is the R-CHOP regimen, but research has revealed L-asparaginase as a potential therapeutic equivalence. In order to better understand lymphoma, it is crucial to investigate the nutrients that feed through its rapid cellular proliferation. In order to elucidate this, 13C-asparagine and aspartic acid, which feed through the crucial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, were added to the media in separate flasks containing cultured SUP-T1 lymphoblastic T-cells and then harvested at intervals of 1 hour and 48 hours. The cells were processed by perchloric acid extraction method, lyophilized, and then resuspended in deuterium oxide for carbon-13 NMR analyses. Both cell and media extracts were analyzed to investigate the intracellular and extracellular metabolite production from aspartic acid and aspartate. Our preliminary results indicate the detection of TCA cycle metabolites. These preliminary NMR data and other relevant results will be presented. This study is supported by the Welch Foundation grant AT‐2111‐20220331, US Department of Defense CDMRP grants W81XWH-21-1-0176, W81XWH-22-1-0105, W81XWH-19-1-0741, and W81XWH-22-1-0003.