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Zarou MM, Rattigan KM, Sarnello D, Shokry E, Dawson A, Ianniciello A, Dunn K, Copland M, Sumpton D, Vazquez A, Helgason GV. Inhibition of mitochondrial folate metabolism drives differentiation through mTORC1 mediated purine sensing. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1931. [PMID: 38431691 PMCID: PMC10908830 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46114-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Supporting cell proliferation through nucleotide biosynthesis is an essential requirement for cancer cells. Hence, inhibition of folate-mediated one carbon (1C) metabolism, which is required for nucleotide synthesis, has been successfully exploited in anti-cancer therapy. Here, we reveal that mitochondrial folate metabolism is upregulated in patient-derived leukaemic stem cells (LSCs). We demonstrate that inhibition of mitochondrial 1C metabolism through impairment of de novo purine synthesis has a cytostatic effect on chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) cells. Consequently, changes in purine nucleotide levels lead to activation of AMPK signalling and suppression of mTORC1 activity. Notably, suppression of mitochondrial 1C metabolism increases expression of erythroid differentiation markers. Moreover, we find that increased differentiation occurs independently of AMPK signalling and can be reversed through reconstitution of purine levels and reactivation of mTORC1. Of clinical relevance, we identify that combination of 1C metabolism inhibition with imatinib, a frontline treatment for CML patients, decreases the number of therapy-resistant CML LSCs in a patient-derived xenograft model. Our results highlight a role for folate metabolism and purine sensing in stem cell fate decisions and leukaemogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha M Zarou
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Kevin M Rattigan
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Daniele Sarnello
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Engy Shokry
- Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK
| | - Amy Dawson
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Angela Ianniciello
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Karen Dunn
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 0ZD, UK
| | - Mhairi Copland
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 0ZD, UK
| | - David Sumpton
- Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK
| | - Alexei Vazquez
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK.
| | - G Vignir Helgason
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK.
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Rattigan KM, Zarou MM, Brabcova Z, Prasad B, Zerbst D, Sarnello D, Kalkman ER, Ianniciello A, Scott MT, Dunn K, Shokry E, Sumpton D, Copland M, Tardito S, Vande Voorde J, Mussai F, Cheng P, Helgason GV. Arginine dependency is a therapeutically exploitable vulnerability in chronic myeloid leukaemic stem cells. EMBO Rep 2023; 24:e56279. [PMID: 37489735 PMCID: PMC10561355 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202256279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
To fuel accelerated proliferation, leukaemic cells undergo metabolic deregulation, which can result in specific nutrient dependencies. Here, we perform an amino acid drop-out screen and apply pre-clinical models of chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) to identify arginine as a nutrient essential for primary human CML cells. Analysis of the Microarray Innovations in Leukaemia (MILE) dataset uncovers reduced ASS1 levels in CML compared to most other leukaemia types. Stable isotope tracing reveals repressed activity of all urea cycle enzymes in patient-derived CML CD34+ cells, rendering them arginine auxotrophic. Thus, arginine deprivation completely blocks proliferation of CML CD34+ cells and induces significantly higher levels of apoptosis when compared to arginine-deprived cell lines. Similarly, primary CML cells, but not normal CD34+ samples, are particularly sensitive to treatment with the arginine-depleting enzyme, BCT-100, which induces apoptosis and reduces clonogenicity. Moreover, BCT-100 is highly efficacious in a patient-derived xenograft model, causing > 90% reduction in the number of human leukaemic stem cells (LSCs). These findings indicate arginine depletion to be a promising and novel strategy to eradicate therapy resistant LSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M Rattigan
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Martha M Zarou
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Zuzana Brabcova
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Bodhayan Prasad
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Désirée Zerbst
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Daniele Sarnello
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Eric R Kalkman
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Angela Ianniciello
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Mary T Scott
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Karen Dunn
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Engy Shokry
- Cancer Research UK Beatson InstituteGlasgowUK
| | | | - Mhairi Copland
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
| | - Saverio Tardito
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
- Cancer Research UK Beatson InstituteGlasgowUK
| | | | - Francis Mussai
- Institute of Immunology and ImmunotherapyUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Paul Cheng
- Bio‐cancer Treatment International Ltd, Hong Kong Science ParkShatinNew TerritoriesHong Kong
| | - G Vignir Helgason
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, School of Cancer SciencesUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
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Rattigan KM, Brabcova Z, Sarnello D, Zarou MM, Roy K, Kwan R, de Beauchamp L, Dawson A, Ianniciello A, Khalaf A, Kalkman ER, Scott MT, Dunn K, Sumpton D, Michie AM, Copland M, Tardito S, Gottlieb E, Vignir Helgason G. Pyruvate anaplerosis is a targetable vulnerability in persistent leukaemic stem cells. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4634. [PMID: 37591854 PMCID: PMC10435520 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40222-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Deregulated oxidative metabolism is a hallmark of leukaemia. While tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as imatinib have increased survival of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients, they fail to eradicate disease-initiating leukemic stem cells (LSCs). Whether TKI-treated CML LSCs remain metabolically deregulated is unknown. Using clinically and physiologically relevant assays, we generate multi-omics datasets that offer unique insight into metabolic adaptation and nutrient fate in patient-derived CML LSCs. We demonstrate that LSCs have increased pyruvate anaplerosis, mediated by increased mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1/2 (MPC1/2) levels and pyruvate carboxylase (PC) activity, in comparison to normal counterparts. While imatinib reverses BCR::ABL1-mediated LSC metabolic reprogramming, stable isotope-assisted metabolomics reveals that deregulated pyruvate anaplerosis is not affected by imatinib. Encouragingly, genetic ablation of pyruvate anaplerosis sensitises CML cells to imatinib. Finally, we demonstrate that MSDC-0160, a clinical orally-available MPC1/2 inhibitor, inhibits pyruvate anaplerosis and targets imatinib-resistant CML LSCs in robust pre-clinical CML models. Collectively these results highlight pyruvate anaplerosis as a persistent and therapeutically targetable vulnerability in imatinib-treated CML patient-derived samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M Rattigan
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Zuzana Brabcova
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Daniele Sarnello
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Martha M Zarou
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Kiron Roy
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Ryan Kwan
- Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK
| | - Lucie de Beauchamp
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Amy Dawson
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Angela Ianniciello
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Ahmed Khalaf
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Eric R Kalkman
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Mary T Scott
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
| | - Karen Dunn
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 0ZD, UK
| | - David Sumpton
- Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK
| | - Alison M Michie
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 0ZD, UK
| | - Mhairi Copland
- Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 0ZD, UK
| | - Saverio Tardito
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
- Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK
| | - Eyal Gottlieb
- The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - G Vignir Helgason
- Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre; Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK.
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