SUMMARY Tumor cells have high-energetic and anabolic needs and are known to adapt their metabolism to be able to survive and keep proliferating under conditions of nutrient stress. We show that PKCζ deficiency promotes the plasticity necessary for cancer cells to reprogram their metabolism to utilize glutamine through the serine biosynthetic pathway in the absence of glucose. PKCζ represses the expression of two key enzymes of the pathway, PHGDH and PSAT1, and phosphorylates PHGDH at key residues to inhibit its enzymatic activity. Interestingly, the loss of PKCζ in mice results in enhanced intestinal tumorigenesis and increased levels of these two metabolic enzymes, whereas patients with low levels of PKCζ have a poor prognosis. Furthermore, PKCζ and caspase-3 activities are correlated with PHGDH levels in human intestinal tumors. Taken together, this demonstrates that PKCζ is a critical metabolic tumor suppressor in mouse and human cancer.

Exosomes, a subgroup of extracellular vesicles (EVs), have been shown to serve as a conduit for the exchange of genetic information between cells. Exosomes are released from all types of cells but in abundance from cancer cells. The contents of exosomes consist of proteins and genetic material (mRNA, DNA and miRNA) from the cell of origin. In this study, we examined the effects of exosomes derived from human lung cancer serum and both highly metastatic and non-metastatic cells on recipient human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). We found that exosomes derived from highly metastatic lung cancer cells and human late stage lung cancer serum induced vimentin expression, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HBECs. Exosomes derived from highly metastatic cancer cells as well as late stage lung cancer serum induce migration, invasion and proliferation in non-cancerous recipient cells. Our results suggest that cancer derived exosomes could be a potential mediator of EMT in the recipient cells.

Pten inactivation promotes cell survival in leukemia cells by activating glycolytic metabolism. We found that targeting ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) in Pten-deficient cells suppressed glycolysis and induced apoptosis. S6K1 knockdown decreased expression of HIF-1α, and HIF-1α was sufficient to restore glycolysis and survival of cells lacking S6K1. In the Pten fl/fl Mx1-Cre + mouse model of leukemia, S6K1 deletion delayed the development of leukemia. Thus, S6K1 is a critical mediator of glycolytic metabolism, cell survival, and leukemogenesis in Pten-deficient cells.

Cancer biologists' search for new chemotherapy targets is reinvigorating the study of how cancer cell metabolism determines both oncogenic potential and chemotherapeutic responses. Oncogenic metabolic programs support the bioenergetics associated with resistance to programed cell death and provide biosynthetic building blocks for cell growth and mitogenesis. Both signal transduction pathway activation and direct mutations in key metabolic enzymes can activate the metabolic programs that support cancer cell growth. Cancer-associated metabolic programs include glycolysis, glutamine oxidation, and fatty acid metabolism. Recent observations are revealing the regulatory mechanisms that activate cancer-associated metabolism, and the competitive advantages provided to transformed cells by their metabolic programs. In this study, we review recent results illustrating the mechanisms and functional impact of each of these oncogenic metabolic programs in cancer cell growth and survival.

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer related deaths. The lack of specific and accurate tools for early diagnosis and minimal targeted therapeutics both contribute to poor outcomes. The recent discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) revealed a novel mechanism for post-transcriptional regulation in cancer and has created new opportunities for the development of diagnostics, prognostics and targeted therapeutics. In lung cancer, miRNA expression profiles distinguish histological subtypes, predict chemotherapeutic response and are associated with prognosis, metastasis and survival. Furthermore, miRNAs circulate in body fluids and hence may serve as important biomarkers for early diagnosis or stratify patients for personalized therapeutic strategies. Here, we provide an overview of the miRNAs implicated in lung cancer, with an emphasis on their clinical utility.

In Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, the constitutive activation of the BCR-ABL kinase transforms cells to an “addicted” state that requires glucose metabolism for survival. We investigated S6K1, a protein kinase that drives glycolysis in leukemia cells, as a target for counteracting glucose-dependent survival induced by BCR-ABL. BCR-ABL potently activated S6K1-dependent signaling and glycolysis. Although S6K1 knockdown or rapamycin treatment suppressed glycolysis in BCR-ABL transformed cells, these treatments did not induce cell death. Instead, loss of S6K1 triggered compensatory activation of fatty acid oxidation, a metabolic program that can support glucose-independent cell survival. Fatty acid oxidation in response to S6K1-inactivation required the expression of the fatty acid transporter Cpt1c, which was recently linked to rapamycin resistance in cancer. Finally, addition of an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation significantly enhanced cytotoxicity in response to S6K1 inactivation. These data indicate that S6K1 dictates the metabolic requirements mediating BCR-ABL survival and provide a rationale for combining targeted inhibitors of signal transduction with strategies to interrupt oncogene-induced metabolism.

No abstract

No abstract