Vasanta Putluri

MYC-driven accumulation of 2-hydroxyglutarate is associated with breast cancer prognosis

Metabolic profiling of cancer cells has recently been established as a promising tool for the development of therapies and identification of cancer biomarkers. Here we characterized the metabolomic profile of human breast tumors and uncovered intrinsic metabolite signatures in these tumors using an untargeted discovery approach and validation of key metabolites. The oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) accumulated at high levels in a subset of tumors and human breast cancer cell lines. We discovered an association between increased 2HG levels and MYC pathway activation in breast cancer, and further corroborated this relationship using MYC overexpression and knockdown in human mammary epithelial and breast cancer cells. Further analyses revealed globally increased DNA methylation in 2HG-high tumors and identified a tumor subtype with high tissue 2HG and a distinct DNA methylation pattern that was associated with poor prognosis and occurred with higher frequency in African-American patients. Tumors of this subtype had a stem cell-like transcriptional signature and tended to overexpress glutaminase, suggestive of a functional relationship between glutamine and 2HG metabolism in breast cancer. Accordingly, 13C-labeled glutamine was incorporated into 2HG in cells with aberrant 2HG accumulation, whereas pharmacologic and siRNA-mediated glutaminase inhibition reduced 2HG levels. Our findings implicate 2HG as a candidate breast cancer oncometabolite associated with MYC activation and poor prognosis.

Metabolomic Profiling Reveals a Role for Androgen in Activating Amino Acid Metabolism and Methylation in Prostate Cancer Cells

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death in American men. Development and progression of clinically localized prostate cancer is highly dependent on androgen signaling. Metastatic tumors are initially responsive to anti-androgen therapy, however become resistant to this regimen upon progression. Genomic and proteomic studies have implicated a role for androgen in regulating metabolic processes in prostate cancer. However, there have been no metabolomic profiling studies conducted thus far that have examined androgen-regulated biochemical processes in prostate cancer. Here, we have used unbiased metabolomic profiling coupled with enrichment-based bioprocess mapping to obtain insights into the biochemical alterations mediated by androgen in prostate cancer cell lines. Our findings indicate that androgen exposure results in elevation of amino acid metabolism and alteration of methylation potential in prostate cancer cells. Further, metabolic phenotyping studies confirm higher flux through pathways associated with amino acid metabolism in prostate cancer cells treated with androgen. These findings provide insight into the potential biochemical processes regulated by androgen signaling in prostate cancer. Clinically, if validated, these pathways could be exploited to develop therapeutic strategies that supplement current androgen ablative treatments while the observed androgen-regulated metabolic signatures could be employed as biomarkers that presage the development of castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

Fatty Acid Oxidation-Driven Src Links Mitochondrial Energy Reprogramming and Oncogenic Properties in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Transmitochondrial cybrids and multiple OMICs approaches were used to understand mitochondrial reprogramming and mitochondria-regulated cancer pathways in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Analysis of cybrids and established breast cancer (BC) cell lines showed that metastatic TNBC maintains high levels of ATP through fatty acid β oxidation (FAO) and activates Src oncoprotein through autophosphorylation at Y419. Manipulation of FAO including the knocking down of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1A (CPT1) and 2 (CPT2), the rate-limiting proteins of FAO, and analysis of patient-derived xenograft models confirmed the role of mitochondrial FAO in Src activation and metastasis. Analysis of TCGA and other independent BC clinical data further reaffirmed the role of mitochondrial FAO and CPT genes in Src regulation and their significance in BC metastasis.

Metabolomic profiling identifies biochemical pathways associated with castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Despite recent developments in treatment strategies, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is still the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality among American men, the biological underpinnings of which are not well understood. To this end, we measured levels of 150 metabolites and examined the rate of utilization of 184 metabolites in metastatic androgen-dependent prostate cancer (AD) and CRPC cell lines using a combination of targeted mass spectrometry and metabolic phenotyping. Metabolic data were used to derive biochemical pathways that were enriched in CRPC, using Oncomine concept maps (OCM). The enriched pathways were then examined in-silico for their association with treatment failure (i.e., prostate specific antigen (PSA) recurrence or biochemical recurrence) using published clinically annotated gene expression data sets. Our results indicate that a total of 19 metabolites were altered in CRPC compared to AD cell lines. These altered metabolites mapped to a highly interconnected network of biochemical pathways that describe UDP glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activity. We observed an association with time to treatment failure in an analysis employing genes restricted to this pathway in three independent gene expression data sets. In summary, our studies highlight the value of employing metabolomic strategies in cell lines to derive potentially clinically useful predictive tools.

Differential regulation of metabolic pathways by androgen receptor (AR) and its constitutively active splice variant, AR-V7, in prostate cancer cells

Metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) is primarily an androgen-dependent disease, which is treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Tumors usually develop resistance (castration-resistant PCa [CRPC]), but remain androgen receptor (AR) dependent. Numerous mechanisms for AR-dependent resistance have been identified including expression of constitutively active AR splice variants lacking the hormone-binding domain. Recent clinical studies show that expression of the best-characterized AR variant, AR-V7, correlates with resistance to ADT and poor outcome. Whether AR-V7 is simply a constitutively active substitute for AR or has novel gene targets that cause unique downstream changes is unresolved. Several studies have shown that AR activation alters cell metabolism. Using LNCaP cells with inducible expression of AR-V7 as a model system, we found that AR-V7 stimulated growth, migration, and glycolysis measured by ECAR (extracellular acidification rate) similar to AR. However, further analyses using metabolomics and metabolic flux assays revealed several differences. Whereas AR increased citrate levels, AR-V7 reduced citrate mirroring metabolic shifts observed in CRPC patients. Flux analyses indicate that the low citrate is a result of enhanced utilization rather than a failure to synthesize citrate. Moreover, flux assays suggested that compared to AR, AR-V7 exhibits increased dependence on glutaminolysis and reductive carboxylation to produce some of the TCA (tricarboxylic acid cycle) metabolites. These findings suggest that these unique actions represent potential therapeutic targets.

Inhibition of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer

The precise molecular alterations driving castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) are not clearly understood. Using a novel network-based integrative approach, here, we show distinct alterations in the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) to be critical for CRPC. Expression of HBP enzyme glucosamine-phosphate N-acetyltransferase 1 (GNPNAT1) is found to be significantly decreased in CRPC compared with localized prostate cancer (PCa). Genetic loss-of-function of GNPNAT1 in CRPC-like cells increases proliferation and aggressiveness, in vitro and in vivo. This is mediated by either activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway in cells expressing full-length androgen receptor (AR) or by specific protein 1 (SP1)-regulated expression of carbohydrate response element-binding protein (ChREBP) in cells containing AR-V7 variant. Strikingly, addition of the HBP metabolite UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) to CRPC-like cells significantly decreases cell proliferation, both in-vitro and in animal studies, while also demonstrates additive efficacy when combined with enzalutamide in-vitro. These observations demonstrate the therapeutic value of targeting HBP in CRPC.

Pathway-Centric Integrative Analysis Identifies RRM2 as a Prognostic Marker in Breast Cancer Associated with Poor Survival and Tamoxifen Resistance

Breast cancer (BCa) molecular subtypes include luminal A, luminal B, normal-like, HER-2–enriched, and basal-like tumors, among which luminal B and basal-like cancers are highly aggressive. Biochemical pathways associated with patient survival or treatment response in these more aggressive subtypes are not well understood. With the limited availability of pathologically verified clinical specimens, cell line models are routinely used for pathway-centric studies. We measured the metabolome of luminal and basal-like BCa cell lines using mass spectrometry, linked metabolites to biochemical pathways using Gene Set Analysis, and developed a novel rank-based method to select pathways on the basis of their enrichment in patient-derived omics data sets and prognostic relevance. Key mediators of the pathway were then characterized for their role in disease progression. Pyrimidine metabolism was altered in luminal versus basal BCa, whereas the combined expression of its associated genes or expression of one key gene, ribonucleotide reductase subunit M2 (RRM2) alone, associated significantly with decreased survival across all BCa subtypes, as well as in luminal patients resistant to tamoxifen. Increased RRM2 expression in tamoxifen-resistant patients was verified using tissue microarrays, whereas the metabolic products of RRM2 were higher in tamoxifen-resistant cells and in xenograft tumors. Both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of this key enzyme in tamoxifen-resistant cells significantly decreased proliferation, reduced expression of cell cycle genes, and sensitized the cells to tamoxifen treatment. Our study suggests for evaluating RRM2-associated metabolites as noninvasive markers for tamoxifen resistance and its pharmacological inhibition as a novel approach to overcome tamoxifen resistance in BCa.

EMT-induced metabolite signature identifies poor clinical outcome

Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induces cancer stem cell (CSC) characteristics and promotes tumor invasiveness; however relatively little is known about the metabolic reprogramming in EMT. Here we show that breast epithelial cells undergo metabolic reprogramming following EMT. Relative to control, cell lines expressing EMT transcription factors show ≥1.5-fold accumulation of glutamine, glutamate, beta-alanine and glycylleucine as well as ≥1.5-fold reduction of phosphoenolpyruvate, urate, and deoxycarnitine. Moreover, these metabolic alterations were found to be predictive of overall survival (hazard ratio = 2.3 (95% confidence interval: 1.31–4.2), logrank p-value = 0.03) and define breast cancer molecular subtypes. EMT-associated metabolites are primarily composed of anapleurotic precursors, suggesting that cells undergoing EMT have a shift in energy production. In summary, we describe a unique panel of metabolites associated with EMT and demonstrate that these metabolites have the potential for predicting clinical and biological characteristics associated with patient survival.

Dimethyl fumarate targets GAPDH and aerobic glycolysis to modulate immunity

Immunometabolism as therapeutic target Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an immunomodulatory compound used to treat multiple sclerosis and psoriasis whose mechanisms of action remain only partially understood. Kornberg et al. found that DMF and its metabolite, monomethyl fumarate, succinate the glycolytic enzyme GAPDH (see the Perspective by Matsushita and Pearce). After DMF treatment, GAPDH was inactivated, and aerobic glycolysis was down-regulated in both myeloid and lymphoid cells. This resulted in down-modulated immune responses because inflammatory immune-cell subsets require aerobic glycolysis. Thus, metabolism can serve as a viable therapeutic target in autoimmune disease. Science, this issue p. 449; see also p. 377 An immunomodulatory drug suppresses immune responses by modulating metabolism in activated immune cells. Activated immune cells undergo a metabolic switch to aerobic glycolysis akin to the Warburg effect, thereby presenting a potential therapeutic target in autoimmune disease. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), a derivative of the Krebs cycle intermediate fumarate, is an immunomodulatory drug used to treat multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. Although its therapeutic mechanism remains uncertain, DMF covalently modifies cysteine residues in a process termed succination. We found that DMF succinates and inactivates the catalytic cysteine of the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in mice and humans, both in vitro and in vivo. It thereby down-regulates aerobic glycolysis in activated myeloid and lymphoid cells, which mediates its anti-inflammatory effects. Our results provide mechanistic insight into immune modulation by DMF and represent a proof of concept that aerobic glycolysis is a therapeutic target in autoimmunity.

Integrative Pathway Analysis of Metabolic Signature in Bladder Cancer: A Linkage to The Cancer Genome Atlas Project and Prediction of Survival

Purpose We used targeted mass spectrometry to study the metabolic fingerprint of urothelial cancer and determine whether the biochemical pathway analysis gene signature would have a predictive value in independent cohorts of patients with bladder cancer. Materials and Methods Pathologically evaluated, bladder derived tissues, including benign adjacent tissue from 14 patients and bladder cancer from 46, were analyzed by liquid chromatography based targeted mass spectrometry. Differential metabolites associated with tumor samples in comparison to benign tissue were identified by adjusting the p values for multiple testing at a false discovery rate threshold of 15%. Enrichment of pathways and processes associated with the metabolic signature were determined using the GO (Gene Ontology) Database and MSigDB (Molecular Signature Database). Integration of metabolite alterations with transcriptome data from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) was done to identify the molecular signature of 30 metabolic genes. Available outcome data from TCGA portal were used to determine the association with survival. Results We identified 145 metabolites, of which analysis revealed 31 differential metabolites when comparing benign and tumor tissue samples. Using the KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) Database we identified a total of 174 genes that correlated with the altered metabolic pathways involved. By integrating these genes with the transcriptomic data from the corresponding TCGA data set we identified a metabolic signature consisting of 30 genes. The signature was significant in its prediction of survival in 95 patients with a low signature score vs 282 with a high signature score (p = 0.0458). Conclusions Targeted mass spectrometry of bladder cancer is highly sensitive for detecting metabolic alterations. Applying transcriptome data allows for integration into larger data sets and identification of relevant metabolic pathways in bladder cancer progression.