Project description:The non-essential amino acid serine is a critical nutrient for cancer cells due to its diverse biosynthetic functions. While some tumors can synthesize serine de novo, others are auxotrophic and therefore reliant on serine uptake. Importantly, despite several transporters being known to be capable of transporting serine, the transporter(s) that mediate serine uptake in cancer cells are not known. Here, we characterize the amino acid transporter ASCT2 (SLC1A5) as a major contributor to serine uptake in cancer cells. ASCT2 is well-known as a glutamine transporter in cancer, and our work demonstrates that serine and glutamine compete for uptake through ASCT2. We further show that ASCT2-mediated serine uptake is essential for purine nucleotide biosynthesis and that ERα promotes serine uptake by directly activating SLC1A5 transcription. Together, our work defines an additional important role for ASCT2 as a serine transporter in cancer and evaluates ASCT2 as a potential therapeutic target.
Project description:Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) relies on glutamine uptake by the transporter ASCT2 to sustain their unique glutamine metabolism and growth. Despite previous data showing cell growth inhibition after ASCT2 knockdown, ASCT2 CRISPR knockout was well-tolerated by breast cancer cell lines. Despite the loss of a glutamine transporter and low rate of glutamine uptake, intracellular glutamine steady state levels were higher in ASCT2 knockout compared to control TNBC cells. Proteomics data revealed upregulation of macropinocytosis, reduction in glutamine efflux and glutamine synthesis in ASCT2 knockout cells. Loss of ASCT2 in TNBC cell line HCC1806 induced a 5-10-fold increase in macropinocytosis across 5 separate ASCT2 knockout clones, compared to a modest 2-fold increase in the shRNA ASCT2 knockdown. By comparison, ASCT2 knockout impaired cell proliferation in a non-macropinocytic breast cancer cell line, HCC1569. These data suggest that macropinocytosis provides a novel resistance mechanism to strategies targeting glutamine uptake alone. Despite this adaptation, TNBC cells continue to rely on glutamine metabolism for their growth, which suggests therapeutic targeting may need to focus on downstream glutamine metabolism pathways.
Project description:Although a nonessential amino acid in normal cells, the demand for glutamine is dramatically increased throughout malignant transformation, supporting a range of metabolic processes including mitochondrial ATP production, protein synthesis, purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis. We previously showed that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells rely on glutamine uptake by the amino acid transporter ASCT2 to sustain their unique glutamine metabolism, thereby supporting in vitro growth and in vivo tumour formation. However, it is known that TNBC cells can also utilise non-transporter mediated nutrient uptake facilitated by processes such as macropinocytosis. We examined proliferation and colony forming ability of human breast cancer cell lines after ASCT2 CRISPR/Cas9 knockout (clonal and polyclonal populations) and shRNA knockdown. Proteomics and mRNAseq analysis further examined cellular and adaptive changes to ASCT2 knockout. Cellular changes were further analysed by western blotting, with macropinocytosis examined using 70kDa dextran-FITC uptake. Metabolic changes were assessed using targeted metabolomics approaches including 13C-labelled substrate tracing and liquid chromatography coupled tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to determine intracellular levels of key tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, glycolytic metabolites, fatty acid precursors, nucleotides, and amino acids in human TNBC cell lines in vitro. Despite our previous data showing a significant reduction in cell growth after ASCT2 knockdown, ASCT2 knockout was well-tolerated by both TNBC and Luminal A breast cancer cell lines, with proliferation rates similar to non-targeted CRISPR/Cas9 control cells. This adaptation to knockout was not due to the high glutamine levels present in culture media, as the knockout cells could be cloned in media containing physiological 0.5 mM glutamine. Previous data have shown that TNBC cell lines can undergo constitutive macropinocytosis, and that this could be enhanced when cells are cultured in low nutrient conditions. Indeed, not only did the TNBC cell line HCC1806 undergo constitutive macropinocytosis, the amount of macropinocytosis was significantly enhanced (5-10 fold) in 5 separate ASCT2 knockout clones. By comparison, the ASCT2 knockdown cell line, which have a significant proliferation deficit, showed a modest 2-fold increase in macropinocytosis. Despite in-depth analysis of gene and protein levels by mRNAseq and proteomics, ASCT2 knockout cells did not display a significant alteration in macropinocytic gene expression, but instead showed a substantial upregulation of Ser473-Akt phosphorylation which may drive the adaptive macropinocytosis in TNBC. These data suggest that the constitutive macropinocytosis present in TNBC cell lines provides a novel resistance mechanism to strategies targeting glutamine uptake alone. Despite this adaptation, TNBC cells continue to rely on glutamine, however therapeutic targeting may need to focus on other unique TNBC metabolic pathways such as single-pass glutaminolysis, which couples glutamine and glucose metabolism together.
Project description:To determine the global effects of ASCT2 inhibition, we used next generation sequencing to determine mRNA expression changes in PC-3 cells treated with BenSer or GPNA for 48 h. Examination of two different ASCT2 inhibitors BenSer and GPNA in prostate cancer cell line PC-3.
Project description:Cancer cells rely on metabolic reprogramming to sustain the prodigious energetic requirements for rapid growth and proliferation. Glutamine metabolism is frequently dysregulated in cancers and is being exploited as a potential therapeutic target. In current study, we identified TARBP1 (TAR (HIV-1) RNA Binding Protein 1) as a novel driver gene critical for glutamine metabolic reprogramming in tumor through the CRISPRi/Cas9 screening. Our in vivo and in vitro assays demonstrated that TARBP1 is the methyltransferase of Guanosine 2'-O-methylation targeting position 18 (G18) of tRNAGln (TTG/CTG) and tRNASer (TGA/GCT), and loss of Gm18 modification diminishes the stability of tRNAs. Therefore, TARBP1 is critical for maintaining efficient translation of mRNA, in particular the glutamine transportor-ASCT2 (also known as SCL1A5). Importantly, TARBP1 is frequently amplified and overexpressed in HCC, consequentially promotes the protein synthesis of ASCT2 and glutamine import to fuel the growth of cancer cell, which is associated with poor patient survival. Taken together, this study reveals the critical role of TARBP1 in HCC progression through glutamine metabolic reprogramming and provides a potential target for tumor therapy.
Project description:Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a major cellular component of tumor microenvironment in most solid cancers. Altered cellular metabolism is a hallmark of cancer, and much of the published literature has focused on neoplastic cell-autonomous processes for these adaptations. We demonstrate that exosomes secreted by patient-derived CAFs can strikingly reprogram the metabolic machinery following their uptake by cancer cells.
Project description:To determine the global effects of ASCT2 inhibition, we used next generation sequencing to determine mRNA expression changes in PC-3 cells treated with BenSer or GPNA for 48 h.