1
|
Kobayashi H, Takase S, Nishimura H, Matsumoto K, Harada H, Yoshida M. RNAi screening reveals a synthetic chemical-genetic interaction between ATP synthase and PFK1 in cancer cells. Cancer Sci 2023; 114:1663-1671. [PMID: 36601784 PMCID: PMC10067418 DOI: 10.1111/cas.15713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Revised: 12/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
To meet cellular bioenergetic and biosynthetic demands, cancer cells remodel their metabolism to increase glycolytic flux, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect and believed to contribute to cancer malignancy. Among glycolytic enzymes, phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK1) has been shown to act as a rate-limiting enzyme and to facilitate the Warburg effect in cancer cells. In this study, however, we found that decreased PFK1 activity did not affect cell survival or proliferation in cancer cells. This raised a question regarding the importance of PFK1 in malignancy. To gain insights into the role of PFK1 in cancer metabolism and the possibility of adopting it as a novel anticancer therapeutic target, we screened for genes that caused lethality when they were knocked down in the presence of tryptolinamide (TLAM), a PFK1 inhibitor. The screen revealed a synthetic chemical-genetic interaction between genes encoding subunits of ATP synthase (complex V) and TLAM. Indeed, after TLAM treatment, the sensitivity of HeLa cells to oligomycin A (OMA), an ATP synthase inhibitor, was 13,000 times higher than that of untreated cells. Furthermore, this sensitivity potentiation by TLAM treatment was recapitulated by genetic mutations of PFK1. By contrast, TLAM did not potentiate the sensitivity of normal fibroblast cell lines to OMA, possibly due to their reduced energy demands compared to cancer cells. We also showed that the PFK1-mediated glycolytic pathway can act as an energy reservoir. Selective potentiation of the efficacy of ATP synthase inhibitors by PFK1 inhibition may serve as a foundation for novel anticancer therapeutic strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hiroki Kobayashi
- Seed Compounds Exploratory Unit for Drug Discovery Platform, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan.,Laboratory of Oncology, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shohei Takase
- Chemical Genomics Research Group, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Haruna Nishimura
- Seed Compounds Exploratory Unit for Drug Discovery Platform, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Ken Matsumoto
- Seed Compounds Exploratory Unit for Drug Discovery Platform, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan.,Chemical Genomics Research Group, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Hironori Harada
- Laboratory of Oncology, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Minoru Yoshida
- Seed Compounds Exploratory Unit for Drug Discovery Platform, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan.,Chemical Genomics Research Group, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama, Japan.,Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Collaborative Research Institute for Innovative Microbiology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
The therapeutic potential of mitochondrial toxins. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 2021; 74:696-705. [PMID: 34163026 DOI: 10.1038/s41429-021-00436-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
When screening active compounds by phenotypic assays, we often encounter mitochondrial toxins, which are compounds that can affect mitochondrial functions. In normal cells, these toxins may have relatively low toxicity but can nonetheless show measurable effects even at low concentrations. On the other hand, in animals, mitochondrial toxins can exert severe toxicity. Mitochondrial toxins that act as inhibitors of respiratory chain complexes in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) are typically avoided during drug discovery efforts, as such compounds can directly promote lethal inhibition of pulmonary respiration. However, mitochondrial toxins could in fact have beneficial therapeutic effects. Anti-cancer strategies that target mitochondrial functions, particularly OXPHOS, have received increasing attention in recent years. In this review article we examine the significance of OXPHOS inhibitors as anti-cancer drug candidates and discuss compounds having microbial origins.
Collapse
|