Decoding Key Nodes in the Metabolism of Cancer Cells: Sugar & Spice and All Things Nice

In the past 5 years, a convergence of studies has resulted in a broad appreciation in the cancer research community that reprogramming of cellular metabolism may be more central to cancer than appreciated in the past 30 years. The re-emergence of cancer metabolism stems in part from discoveries that a number of common oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes more directly control cell metabolism than previously thought. In addition, a number of what would previously have been called “card-carrying” metabolic enzymes have been identified as human tumor suppressors or oncogenes, causally mutated in a variety of human cancers. This growing appreciation of the role of altered cell metabolism has led to further investigation into the rate-limiting proteins involved in different aspects of the unique metabolism of tumor cells. Targeting cancer metabolism with drugs requires a therapeutic window in which tumor cells, compared to normal tissues, have a greater dependence on specific metabolic enzymes. Themes that have emerged in the past decade of developing oncogene-targeted cancer therapeutics suggest that tumors with distinct oncogenic lesions are likely to require drugs that target distinct metabolic pathways. Ultimately, the hope is that detailed knowledge of oncogene and tumor suppressor gene functions and their effects on metabolism will lead to drug combinations that will be far more effective in treating cancers

NRF2 Rewires Cellular Metabolism to Support the Antioxidant Response

The transcription factor (nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2, NRF2) is a master regulator of the cellular response to oxidative insults. While antioxidant response enzymes are well-characterized transcriptional targets of NRF2, it is recently becoming clear that NRF2 also supports cellular detoxification through metabolic rewiring to support the antioxidant systems. In this chapter, we discuss the regulation of NRF2 and how NRF2 activation promotes the antioxidant defense of cells. Furthermore, we discuss how reactive oxygen species influence cellular metabolism and how this affects antioxidant function. We also discuss how NRF2 reprograms cellular metabolism to support the antioxidant response and how this functions to funnel metabolic intermediates into antioxidant pathways. This chapter concludes by exploring how these factors may contribute to both normal physiology and disease

Breathless cancer cells get fat on glutamine

Many cancer cells depend on glutamine as a fuel for proliferation, yet the mechanisms by which glutamine supports cancer metabolism are not fully understood. Two recent studies highlight an important role for glutamine in the synthesis of lipids and provide novel insights into how glutamine metabolism could be targeted for cancer therapy

The tyrosine-phosphorylated hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor receptor associates with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.

The receptor for hepatocyte growth factor, also known as scatter factor (HGF/SF), has recently been identified as the 190-kDa heterodimeric tyrosine kinase encoded by the MET proto-oncogene (p190MET). The signaling pathway(s) triggered by HGF/SF are unknown. In A549 cells, a lung epithelial cell line, nanomolar concentrations of HGF/SF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the p190MET receptor. The autophosphorylated receptor coprecipitated with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) activity. In GTL16 cells, a cell line derived from a gastric carcinoma, the p190MET receptor, overexpressed and constitutively phosphorylated on tyrosine, coprecipitated with PI 3-kinase activity and with the 85-kDa PI 3-kinase subunit. In these cells activation of protein kinase C or the increase of intracellular [Ca2+] inhibits tyrosine phosphorylation of the p190MET receptor as well as the association with both PI 3-kinase activity and the 85-kDa subunit of the enzyme. In an in vitro assay, tyrosine phosphorylation of the immobilized p190MET receptor was required for binding of PI 3-kinase from cell lysates. These data strongly suggest that the signaling pathway activated by the HGF/SF receptor includes generation of D-3-phosphorylated inositol phospholipids

PI3K Enters Beta-Testing

Phosphoinositide-3-OH kinases (PI3K) are critical regulators of cell metabolism, growth, and survival. In a recent publication in Nature, Jia et al. (2008) identify specific functions of the p110β isoform of PI3K in glucose metabolism, cellular proliferation, and tumorigenesis

Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase in Cells Expressing abl Oncogene Variants

A phosphoinositide kinase specific for the D-3 position of the inositol ring, phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, associates with activated receptors for platelet-derived growth factor, insulin, and colony-stimulating factor 1, with products of the oncogenes src, fms, yes, crk, and with polyomavirus middle T antigen. Efficient fibroblast transformation by proteins of the abl and src oncogene families requires activation of their protein-tyrosine kinase activity and membrane association via an amino-terminal myristoylation. We have demonstrated that the PI 3-kinase directly associates with autophosphorylated, activated protein-tyrosine kinase variants of the abl protein. In vivo, this association leads to accumulation of the highly phosphorylated products of PI 3-kinase, PI-3,4-bisphosphate and PI-3,4,5-trisphosphate, only in myristoylated, transforming abl protein variants. Myristoylation thus appears to be required to recruit PI 3-kinase activity to the plasma membrane for in vivo activation and correlates with the mitogenicity of the abl protein variants

Identifying and Targeting Sporadic Oncogenic Genetic Aberrations in Mouse Models of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are genetically characterized by aberrations in TP53 and a low rate of activating point mutations in common oncogenes, rendering it challenging in applying targeted therapies. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify somatic genetic alterations in mouse models of TNBCs driven by loss of Trp53 alone or in combination with Brca1. Amplifications or translocations that resulted in elevated oncoprotein expression or oncoprotein-containing fusions, respectively, as well as frameshift mutations of tumor suppressors were identified in approximately 50% of the tumors evaluated. Although the spectrum of sporadic genetic alterations was diverse, the majority had in common the ability to activate the MAPK/PI3K pathways. Importantly, we demonstrated that approved or experimental drugs efficiently induce tumor regression specifically in tumors harboring somatic aberrations of the drug target. Our study suggests that the combination of WES and RNA-seq on human TNBC will lead to the identification of actionable therapeutic targets for precision medicine–guided TNBC treatment.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R35 CA197588)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 GM041890)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant PSOC U54 CA210184)Breast Cancer Research Foundation (award BCRF-16-021)Jon and Mindy Gray FoundationEntertainment Industry Foundation. Stand Up to Cancer Colorectal Cancer Dream Team (Tranlational Research Grant No. SU2C-AACR-DT22-17)Susan Komen postdoctoral fellowshipBreast Cancer AllianceNovo Nordisk STAR Postdoctoral Fellowshi

p70S6 Kinase Phosphorylates AMPK on Serine 491 to Mediate Leptin's Effect on Food Intake

SummaryThe PI3K-AKT, mTOR-p70S6 kinase and AMPK pathways play distinct and critical roles in metabolic regulation. Each pathway is necessary for leptin's anorexigenic effects in the hypothalamus. Here we show that these pathways converge in an integrated phosphorylation cascade to mediate leptin action in the hypothalamus. We identify serine491 on α2AMPK as the site of convergence and show that p70S6 kinase forms a complex with α2AMPK, resulting in phosphorylation on serine491. Blocking α2AMPK-serine491 phosphorylation increases hypothalamic AMPK activity, food intake, and body weight. Serine491 phosphorylation is necessary for leptin's effects on hypothalamic α2AMPK activity, neuropeptide expression, food intake, and body weight. These results identify an inhibitory AMPK kinase, p70S6 kinase, and demonstrate that AMPK is a substrate for mTOR-p70S6 kinase. This discovery has broad biologic implications since mTOR-p70S6 kinase and AMPK have multiple, fundamental and generally opposing cellular effects that regulate metabolism, cell growth, and development