Abstract
The reprogrammed cancer metabolism is an emerging cancer hallmark pervasive in many cancers and is fundamental to neoplastic progression. Many key cancer-promoting pathways are known to converge on the regulation of cellular metabolism. Besides providing basic sustenance to fuel cancer cells limitless replicative potential, emerging data reveals critical roles for the reprogammed metabolism during maglignant progression. Metastasis is often regarded as the end-stage of malignancy and majority of cancer mortality is attributed to the metastatic dissemination of the malignant cancer cells. The initiation of metastasis has been pinpointed as pivotal event, without which, the malignant cancer cells loses their motility and invasive capabilities for distal dissemination. This initiation event highly resembles epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process that occurs during embryogenesis and wound healing. Microenvironmental signals such as hypoxia and the inflammatory milleu that initiate EMT, interestingly, are also shown to be critical in rewiring cancer metabolism. Thus, it is conceivable that the manipulation of cancer metabolism can impact EMT. Furthermore, whether such metabolic reprogramming is a functional pre-requisite for the initiation of EMT remains unclear.
Using three distinct in vitro EMT models, we show that EMT is an energy-demanding process. Comparative microarray analysis of the EMT models reveals that genes involved in fatty acid, glucose and ROS metabolism are altered. We went further to show that cancer cells undergoing EMT, derives much of the ATP/energy from glucose and lipid metabolism. Importantly, we identified several key molecular drivers that coordinate EMT and cellular bioenergetics, which is validated by our in vivo EMT model.
Citation Format: Zi Qiang Teo, Ming Keat Sng, Jeremy CHAN, Nguan Soon Tan. Molecular drivers of metabolic reprogramming during EMT. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-198. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-198