Proliferation impairs cell viability via energy depletion
ABSTRACTIntroductionProliferation is essential to the development of all living organisms and to the replacement of dead cells in injured organs. Proliferation is tightly regulated, and loss of proliferation control is a hallmark of cancer. Thus, cell proliferation and cell survival are closely interconnected to contribute to organ homeostasis or tumor development. Given the central role of energy homeostasis in cell survival, and the fact that proliferation increases negentropy, we hypothesized that proliferation might affect the intracellular ATP/ADP ratio, a robust readout of the cellular energy status.MethodsWe analyzed transcriptomic data and cytotoxicity assessment from tumor cell lines challenged with a panel of chemotherapies. We then analyzed the effect of proliferation on the viability and on the intracellular ATP/ADP ratio of epithelial cell lines challenged with toxic or energetic stresses. Finally, we studied transcriptomic data from both tumors and injured or recovering kidneys, and computed indexes for proliferation, and nuclear vs mitochondrially encoded oxidative phosphorylation genes.ResultsHere we found that proliferation is associated with decreased survival after toxic or energetic stresses in both cancer and epithelial cells. In vitro, we found that ATP/ADP ratio was tightly regulated throughout the cell cycle, and that proliferation was instrumental to an overall decrease in intracellular ATP/ADP ratio. In vivo, we found that the expression of genes of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway (OXPHOS) was correlated with proliferation in cancer. In injured kidneys, proliferation was also associated with increased expression of genes of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway encoded in the nucleus, but mitochondrially-encoded genes were strongly decreased, suggesting the coexistence of a passive mitochondrial injury and an adaptative nuclear response with opposite effects on OXPHOS. Increased proliferation and decreased expression of mitochondrially-encoded genes of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway were associated with a poor renal outcome. In sum, we show that proliferation is an energy demanding process impairing the cellular ability to cope with a toxic or ischemic injury.