New insights into how cancer cells fuel their growth are opening novel possibilities for cancer treatment. A team of researchers has identified a long sought after connection between how cancer cells use the sugar glucose to generate energy - the Warburg pathway - and cancer growth. They found that PFKFB4, an enzyme in the Warburg pathway, can activate SRC-3, a potent driver of breast cancer. The study appears in the journal Nature.
"In the 1920s, Otto Warburg and his colleagues discovered that cancer cells consume larger amounts of glucose than normal cells," said senior author.To generate energy from glucose, cells can use one of two pathways. One of them takes place in the mitochondria, energy-producing structures inside cells, and yields significantly more energy - ATP - than the second pathway, called fermentation. Normal cells mostly use the path in the mitochondria, but about 80 percent of cancer cells seem to have revamped their metabolism to preferentially generate energy via fermentation. This phenomenon is known as the Warburg effect.
"This has been a mystery for quite some time. Why would cancer cells, which need large amounts of energy to sustain their growth, prefer to use a pathway that produces less ATP than another available pathway?" senior author said. "What would be the advantage for cancer cells to use the Warburg pathway? Our study sheds new light on this mystery."
The laboratory identified years ago SRC-3, a protein that is an important regulator of gene expression. SRC-3 is overproduced in most cancer cells and this transforms it into an oncogene; it can turn on genes involved in abnormal growth, invasion, metastasis and resistance to anti-cancer drugs. If cancer cells modify SRC-3, for example by adding a phosphate chemical group to it, then SRC-3 becomes hyperactive, a hallmark of many tumors.
"We conducted an unbiased search to identify enzymes that add phosphate groups that are able to enhance the activity of SRC-3," said first author. "We were surprised to identify an enzyme named PFKFB4 as one of the most dominant regulators of protein SRC-3. This was unexpected because PFKFB4 was well known for its ability to only add phosphate groups to sugars in the Warburg pathway. Nobody had described before that this enzyme could also add phosphate groups to proteins," author said.
"When PFKFB4 adds a phosphate group to SRC-3, it transforms it into a potent driver of breast cancer and other cancers as well," senior author said.
"I am most excited about our findings regarding breast tumor progression in mouse models," said the first author. "Our data shows that by removing PFKFB4 or SRC-3 from the tumors, we are able to almost completely eliminate recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer. In addition, modification of SRC-3, so it cannot receive a phosphate group, also results in tumor control."
These and other findings allowed the researchers to connect for the first time the Warburg pathway to cancer growth. PFKFB4, an enzyme involved in the Warburg pathway, also is able to modify SRC-3, a potent driver of cancer growth. Absence of PFKFB4 or SRC-3, or the presence of an SRC-3 form that cannot be modified by PFKFB4, eliminates recurrence and metastasis.
"One of the most interesting things to me is that we have solved some of this nearly 100-year-old mystery," senior author said. "Also, our findings give us more potential intervention points for future therapies. This is important because breast cancer recurrence and metastasis are clinically challenging problems."
https://www.roswellpark.org/media/news/roswell-park-baylor-research-identifies-crucial-enzyme-driving-breast-cancer
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0018-1
Latest News
Role of fat in rare neurolo…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
How protein synthesis in de…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Atlas of mRNA variants in d…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Mapping microbiome in metas…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Full-length mRNA packaged i…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Other Top Stories
New regulator in iron metabolism in mice
Read more
Does the sex of a cell matter in research?
Read more
Natural sugar to reduce atherosclerotic plaque through increased au…
Read more
Ribosomes revolutionize the way we think about gene expression and…
Read more
New way to think about DNA replication!
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Selenium, diabetes, and the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Long-term neuropsychologica…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Neuronal activity rapidly r…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
A perspective on muscle phe…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Foxp1 suppresses cortical a…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar