scholarly journals Cavin-3 dictates the balance between ERK and Akt signaling

eLife ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J Hernandez ◽  
Jian Weng ◽  
Peter Ly ◽  
Shanica Pompey ◽  
Hongyun Dong ◽  
...  

Cavin-3 is a tumor suppressor protein of unknown function. Using both in vivo and in vitro approaches, we show that cavin-3 dictates the balance between ERK and Akt signaling. Loss of cavin-3 increases Akt signaling at the expense of ERK, while gain of cavin-3 increases ERK signaling at the expense Akt. Cavin-3 facilitates signal transduction to ERK by anchoring caveolae to the membrane skeleton of the plasma membrane via myosin-1c. Caveolae are lipid raft specializations that contain an ERK activation module and loss of the cavin-3 linkage reduces the abundance of caveolae, thereby separating this ERK activation module from signaling receptors. Loss of cavin-3 promotes Akt signaling through suppression of EGR1 and PTEN. The in vitro consequences of the loss of cavin-3 include induction of Warburg metabolism (aerobic glycolysis), accelerated cell proliferation, and resistance to apoptosis. The in vivo consequences of cavin-3 knockout are increased lactate production and cachexia.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shonagh Russell ◽  
Liping Xu ◽  
Yoonseok Kam ◽  
Dominique Abrahams ◽  
Bryce Ordway ◽  
...  

Aggressive cancers commonly ferment glucose to lactic acid at high rates, even in the presence of oxygen. This is known as aerobic glycolysis, or the “Warburg Effect”. It is widely assumed that this is a consequence of the upregulation of glycolytic enzymes. Oncogenic drivers can increase the expression of most proteins in the glycolytic pathway, including the terminal step of exporting H+ equivalents from the cytoplasm. Proton exporters maintain an alkaline cytoplasmic pH, which can enhance all glycolytic enzyme activities, even in the absence of oncogene-related expression changes. Based on this observation, we hypothesized that increased uptake and fermentative metabolism of glucose could be driven by the expulsion of H+ equivalents from the cell. To test this hypothesis, we stably transfected lowly-glycolytic MCF-7, U2-OS, and glycolytic HEK293 cells to express proton exporting systems: either PMA1 (yeast H+-ATPase) or CAIX (carbonic anhydrase 9). The expression of either exporter in vitro enhanced aerobic glycolysis as measured by glucose consumption, lactate production, and extracellular acidification rate. This resulted in an increased intracellular pH, and metabolomic analyses indicated that this was associated with an increased flux of all glycolytic enzymes upstream of pyruvate kinase. These cells also demonstrated increased migratory and invasive phenotypes in vitro, and these were recapitulated in vivo by more aggressive behavior, whereby the acid-producing cells formed higher grade tumors with higher rates of metastases. Neutralizing tumor acidity with oral buffers reduced the metastatic burden. Therefore, cancer cells with increased H+ export increase intracellular alkalization, even without oncogenic driver mutations, and this is sufficient to alter cancer metabolism towards a Warburg phenotype.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 565-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongqiang Wang ◽  
Rui Zhou ◽  
Li Sun ◽  
Jianling Xia ◽  
Xuchun Yang ◽  
...  

Aerobic glycolysis plays an important role in cancer progression. New target genes regulating cancer aerobic glycolysis must be explored to improve patient prognosis. Mitochondrial topoisomerase I (TOP1MT) deficiency suppresses glucose oxidative metabolism but enhances glycolysis in normal cells. Here, we examined the role of TOP1MT in gastric cancer (GC) and attempted to determine the underlying mechanism. Using in vitro and in vivo experiments and analyzing the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with GC, we found that TOP1MT expression was lower in GC samples than in adjacent nonmalignant tissues. TOP1MT knockdown significantly promoted GC migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, TOP1MT silencing increased glucose consumption, lactate production, glucose transporter 1 expression and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in GC. Additionally, regulation of glucose metabolism induced by TOP1MT was significantly associated with lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) expression. A retrospective analysis of clinical data from 295 patients with GC demonstrated that low TOP1MT expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, recurrence and high mortality rates. TOP1MT deficiency enhanced glucose aerobic glycolysis by stimulating LDHA to promote GC progression.


Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Ren ◽  
Arpita Mukhopadhyay* ◽  
Anthony A Lanahan ◽  
Zhen W Zhuang ◽  
Karen L Moodie ◽  
...  

Background : Arterial morphogenesis is an important and poorly understood process. We have previously demonstrated that disruption of synectin gene expression in mice and zebrafish results in impaired arterial development and branching morphogenesis. Synectin null endothelial cells demonstrate reduced VEGF responsiveness in terms of migration, proliferation and differentiation and ERK-1/2 activation (Chittenden et al, Dev Cell 2006). Since ERK has been established as major participants in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation and Erk activation has been previously linked to arterial morphogenesis, we evaluated whether activation of Erk signaling in synectin disrupted mice and zebrafish as well as synectin KO arterial endothelial cells (ECs) would restore defective migration, arterial differentiation, angiogenesis and arteriogenesis. To stimulate ERK signaling we used partial inhibition of PI3-K activity to reduce Akt-dependent suppression of Raf1 activation or introduction of constitutively active ERK construct. Methods : In vitro studies were conducted with primary arterial ECs isolated from synectin wild type (WT) and knock out (KO) mice. In vivo studies were carried out in WT and synectin deficient mice and synectin knockdown zebrafish embryos. Results: Exposure of synectin −/− arterial EC to two selective PI3K inhibitors GS4898 or LY294002 in vitro restored ERK activation in a dose-dependent manner and returned cell migration and in vitro branching morphogenesis to wild type levels. Transduction of a constitutively active ERK construct in vitro or in a Matrigel model in vivo had similar effect. Systemic treatment of synectin −/− mice with GS4898 fully restored impaired angiogenesis and arterial morphogenesis in adult animals in the setting of hindlimb ischemia. Similar treatment nearly completely restored arterial development defects in zebrafish treated with a synectin morpholino. Conclusions: ERK activation plays a key role in arteriogenesis both in adult tissues and during embryonic development. Activation of compromised ERK-1/2 signaling may be a novel therapeutic intervention to stimulate arteriogenesis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weixing Dai ◽  
Xianke Meng ◽  
Shaobo Mo ◽  
Wenqiang Xiang ◽  
Ye Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Low expression of FOXE1, a member of Forkhead box (FOX) transcription factor family that plays vital roles in cancers, contributes to poor prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Materials and methods The effects of FOXE1 on the growth of colon cancer cells and the expression of glycolytic enzymes were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Molecular biological experiments were used to reveal the underlying mechanisms of altered aerobic glycolysis. CRC tissue specimens were used to determine the clinical association of ectopic metabolism caused by dysregulated FOXE1. Results FOXE1 is highly expressed in normal colon tissues compared with cancer tissues and low expression of FOXE1 is significantly associated with poor prognosis of CRC patients. Silencing FOXE1 in CRC cell lines dramatically enhanced cell proliferation and colony formation and promoted glucose consumption and lactate production, while enforced expression of FOXE1 manifested the opposite effects. Mechanistically, FOXE1 bound directly to the promoter region of HK2 and negatively regulated its transcription. Furthermore, the expression of FOXE1 in CRC tissues was negatively correlated with that of HK2. Conclusion FOXE1 functions as a critical tumor suppressor in regulating tumor growth and glycolysis via suppressing HK2 in CRC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Huinan Qu ◽  
Da Qi ◽  
Xinqi Wang ◽  
Yuan Dong ◽  
Qiu Jin ◽  
...  

Claudin 6 (CLDN6) was found to be a breast cancer suppressor gene, which is lowly expressed in breast cancer and inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation upon overexpression. However, the mechanism by which CLDN6 inhibits breast cancer proliferation is unclear. Here, we investigated this issue and elucidated the molecular mechanisms by which CLDN6 inhibits breast cancer proliferation. First, we verified that CLDN6 was lowly expressed in breast cancer tissues and that patients with lower CLDN6 expression had a worse prognosis. Next, we confirmed that CLDN6 inhibited breast cancer proliferation through in vitro and in vivo experiments. As for the mechanism, we found that CLDN6 inhibited c–MYC–mediated aerobic glycolysis based on a metabolomic analysis of CLDN6 affecting cellular lactate levels. CLDN6 interacted with a transcriptional co–activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) and reduced the level of TAZ, thereby suppressing c–MYC transcription, which led to a reduction in glucose uptake and lactate production. Considered together, our results suggested that CLDN6 suppressed c–MYC–mediated aerobic glycolysis to inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer by TAZ, which indicated that CLDN6 acted as a novel regulator of aerobic glycolysis and provided a theoretical basis for CLDN6 as a biomarker of progression in breast cancer.


Author(s):  
Cheng-Lin Qi ◽  
Mao-Ling Huang ◽  
You Zou ◽  
Rui Yang ◽  
Yang Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Centromere protein N (CENP-N) has been reported to be highly expressed in malignancies, but its role and mechanism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are unknown. Methods Abnormal CENP-N expression from NPC microarrays of GEO database was analyzed. CENP-N expression level was confirmed in NPC tissues and cell lines. Stable CENP-N knockdown and overexpression NPC cell lines were established, and transcriptome sequencing after CENP-N knockdown was performed. In vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to test the impact of CENP-N knockdown in NPC cells. ChIP and dual luciferase reporter assays were used to verify the combination of IRF2 and CENP-N. Western blot analysis, cellular immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation and GST pulldown assays were used to verify the combination of CENP-N and AKT. Results CENP-N was confirmed to be aberrantly highly expressed in NPC tissues and cell lines and to be associated with high 18F-FDG uptake in cancer nests and poor patient prognosis. Transcriptome sequencing after CENP-N knockdown revealed that genes with altered expression were enriched in pathways related to glucose metabolism, cell cycle regulation. CENP-N knockdown inhibited glucose metabolism, cell proliferation, cell cycling and promoted apoptosis. IRF2 is a transcription factor for CENP-N and directly promotes CENP-N expression in NPC cells. CENP-N affects the glucose metabolism, proliferation, cell cycling and apoptosis of NPC cells in vitro and in vivo through the AKT pathway. CENP-N formed a complex with AKT in NPC cells. Both an AKT inhibitor (MK-2206) and a LDHA inhibitor (GSK2837808A) blocked the effect of CENP-N overexpression on NPC cells by promoting aerobic glycolysis, proliferation, cell cycling and apoptosis resistance. Conclusions The IRF2/CENP-N/AKT axis promotes malignant biological behaviors in NPC cells by increasing aerobic glycolysis, and the IRF2/CENP-N/AKT signaling axis is expected to be a new target for NPC therapy.


Author(s):  
Yichao Hou ◽  
Qingwei Zhang ◽  
Wenjing Pang ◽  
Lidan Hou ◽  
Yu Liang ◽  
...  

AbstractPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal human cancers. It thrives in a malnourished environment; however, little is known about the mechanisms by which PDAC cells actively promote aerobic glycolysis to maintain their metabolic needs. Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) was used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs. The expression pattern of miR-30d in normal and PDAC tissues was studied by in situ hybridization. The role of miR-30d/RUNX1 in vitro and in vivo was evaluated by CCK8 assay and clonogenic formation as well as transwell experiment, subcutaneous xenograft model and liver metastasis model, respectively. Glucose uptake, ATP and lactate production were tested to study the regulatory effect of miR-30d/RUNX1 on aerobic glycolysis in PDAC cells. Quantitative real-time PCR, western blot, Chip assay, promoter luciferase activity, RIP, MeRIP, and RNA stability assay were used to explore the molecular mechanism of YTHDC1/miR-30d/RUNX1 in PDAC. Here, we discover that miR-30d expression was remarkably decreased in PDAC tissues and associated with good prognosis, contributed to the suppression of tumor growth and metastasis, and attenuation of Warburg effect. Mechanistically, the m6A reader YTHDC1 facilitated the biogenesis of mature miR-30d via m6A-mediated regulation of mRNA stability. Then, miR-30d inhibited aerobic glycolysis through regulating SLC2A1 and HK1 expression by directly targeting the transcription factor RUNX1, which bound to the promoters of the SLC2A1 and HK1 genes. Moreover, miR-30d was clinically inversely correlated with RUNX1, SLC2A1 and HK1, which function as adverse prognosis factors for overall survival in PDAC tissues. Overall, we demonstrated that miR-30d is a functional and clinical tumor-suppressive gene in PDAC. Our findings further uncover that miR-30d is a novel target for YTHDC1 through m6A modification, and miR-30d represses pancreatic tumorigenesis via suppressing aerobic glycolysis.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimin Yuan ◽  
Wan Hwa Ng ◽  
Zizi Tian ◽  
Jiajun Yap ◽  
Manuela Baccarini ◽  
...  

SummaryHyperactive RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling has a well-defined role in cancer biology. Aberrant pathway activation occurs mostly upstream of MEK; however, MEK mutations are prevalent in some cancer subsets. Here we show that cancer-related MEK mutants can be classified as those activated by relieving the inhibitory role of helix A, and those with in-frame deletions of β3-αC loop, which exhibit differential resistance to MEK inhibitors in vitro and in vivo. The β3-αC loop deletions activate MEK1 through enhancing homodimerization that can drive intradimer cross-phosphorylation of activation loop. Further, we demonstrate that MEK1 dimerization is required both for its activation by RAF and for its catalytic activity towards ERK. Our study identifies a novel group of MEK mutants, illustrates some key steps in RAF/MEK/ERK activation, and has important implications for the design of therapies targeting hyperactive RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling in cancers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (554) ◽  
pp. eaar6795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimin Yuan ◽  
Wan Hwa Ng ◽  
Zizi Tian ◽  
Jiajun Yap ◽  
Manuela Baccarini ◽  
...  

RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling has a well-defined role in cancer biology. Although aberrant pathway activation occurs mostly upstream of the kinase MEK, mutations in MEK are prevalent in some cancer subsets. Here, we found that cancer-related, activating mutations in MEK can be classified into two groups: those that relieve inhibitory interactions with the helix A region and those that are in-frame deletions of the β3-αC loop, which enhance MEK1 homodimerization. The former, helix A–associated mutants, are inhibited by traditional MEK inhibitors. However, we found that the increased homodimerization associated with the loop-deletion mutants promoted intradimer cross-phosphorylation of the activation loop and conferred differential resistance to MEK inhibitors both in vitro and in vivo. MEK1 dimerization was required both for its activation by the kinase RAF and for its catalytic activity toward the kinase ERK. Our findings not only identify a previously unknown group of MEK mutants and provide insight into some key steps in RAF-MEK-ERK activation but also have implications for the design of therapies targeting RAS-ERK signaling in cancers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (35) ◽  
pp. 11090-11095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Lerchundi ◽  
Ignacio Fernández-Moncada ◽  
Yasna Contreras-Baeza ◽  
Tamara Sotelo-Hitschfeld ◽  
Philipp Mächler ◽  
...  

Neural activity is accompanied by a transient mismatch between local glucose and oxygen metabolism, a phenomenon of physiological and pathophysiological importance termed aerobic glycolysis. Previous studies have proposed glutamate and K+ as the neuronal signals that trigger aerobic glycolysis in astrocytes. Here we used a panel of genetically encoded FRET sensors in vitro and in vivo to investigate the participation of NH4+, a by-product of catabolism that is also released by active neurons. Astrocytes in mixed cortical cultures responded to physiological levels of NH4+ with an acute rise in cytosolic lactate followed by lactate release into the extracellular space, as detected by a lactate-sniffer. An acute increase in astrocytic lactate was also observed in acute hippocampal slices exposed to NH4+ and in the somatosensory cortex of anesthetized mice in response to i.v. NH4+. Unexpectedly, NH4+ had no effect on astrocytic glucose consumption. Parallel measurements showed simultaneous cytosolic pyruvate accumulation and NADH depletion, suggesting the involvement of mitochondria. An inhibitor-stop technique confirmed a strong inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake that can be explained by mitochondrial matrix acidification. These results show that physiological NH4+ diverts the flux of pyruvate from mitochondria to lactate production and release. Considering that NH4+ is produced stoichiometrically with glutamate during excitatory neurotransmission, we propose that NH4+ behaves as an intercellular signal and that pyruvate shunting contributes to aerobic lactate production by astrocytes.


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