Metabolism alterations are hallmarks of cancer, but the involvement of lipid metabolism in disease progression is unclear. We investigated the role of lipid metabolism in prostate cancer using tissue from patients with prostate cancer and patient-derived xenograft mouse models. We showed that fatty acid uptake was increased in human prostate cancer and that these fatty acids were directed toward biomass production. These changes were mediated, at least partly, by the fatty acid transporter CD36, which was associated with aggressive disease. Deleting Cd36 in the prostate of cancer-susceptible Pten−/− mice reduced fatty acid uptake and the abundance of oncogenic signaling lipids and slowed cancer progression. Moreover, CD36 antibody therapy reduced cancer severity in patient-derived xenografts. We further demonstrated cross-talk between fatty acid uptake and de novo lipogenesis and found that dual targeting of these pathways more potently inhibited proliferation of human cancer-derived organoids compared to the single treatments. These findings identify a critical role for CD36-mediated fatty acid uptake in prostate cancer and suggest that targeting fatty acid uptake might be an effective strategy for treating prostate cancer.

Diverse types of therapy-resistant prostate cancers are sensitive to a new combination of drugs that inhibit protein synthesis pathways in cancer cells.

Castration-resistant prostate cancer is a lethal disease. The cell type(s) that survive androgen deprivation remain poorly described, despite global efforts to understand the various mechanisms of therapy resistance. We recently identified in wild-type (WT) mouse prostates a rare population of luminal progenitor cells that we called LSC according to their FACS profile (Lin /Sca-1 /CD49f ). Here, we investigated the prevalence and castration resistance of LSC in various mouse models of prostate tumourigenesis (Pb-PRL, Pten , and Hi-Myc mice). LSC prevalence is low (∼8%, similar to WT) in Hi-Myc mice, where prostatic androgen receptor signalling is unaltered, but is significantly higher in the two other models, where androgen receptor signalling is decreased, rising up to more than 80% in Pten prostates. LSC tolerate androgen deprivation and persist or are enriched 2-3 weeks after castration. The tumour-initiating properties of LSC from Pten mice were demonstrated by regeneration of tumours in vivo. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that LSC represent a unique cell entity as their gene expression profile is different from luminal and basal/stem cells, but shares markers of each. Their intrinsic androgen signalling is markedly decreased, explaining why LSC tolerate androgen deprivation. This also illuminates why Pten tumours are castration-resistant since LSC represent the most prevalent cell type in this model. We validated CK4 as a specific marker for LSC on sorted cells and prostate tissues by immunostaining, allowing for the detection of LSC in various mouse prostate specimens. In castrated Pten prostates, there was significant proliferation of CK4 cells, further demonstrating their key role in castration-resistant prostate cancer progression. Taken together, this study identifies LSC as a probable source of prostate cancer relapse after androgen deprivation and as a new therapeutic target for the prevention of castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Copyright © 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Highlights d Identification of three distinct human adipocyte progenitor cell (APC) subtypes d APC subtypes have unique molecular profiles but similar adipogenic capacities d Adipocytes from APC subtypes have distinguishing metabolic and endocrine profiles d APC composition varies according to anatomical location and type 2 diabetes status