An aberrant SREBP-dependent lipogenic program promotes metastatic prostate cancer

Nat Genet. 2018 Feb;50(2):206-218. doi: 10.1038/s41588-017-0027-2. Epub 2018 Jan 15.

Abstract

Lipids, either endogenously synthesized or exogenous, have been linked to human cancer. Here we found that PML is frequently co-deleted with PTEN in metastatic human prostate cancer (CaP). We demonstrated that conditional inactivation of Pml in the mouse prostate morphs indolent Pten-null tumors into lethal metastatic disease. We identified MAPK reactivation, subsequent hyperactivation of an aberrant SREBP prometastatic lipogenic program, and a distinctive lipidomic profile as key characteristic features of metastatic Pml and Pten double-null CaP. Furthermore, targeting SREBP in vivo by fatostatin blocked both tumor growth and distant metastasis. Importantly, a high-fat diet (HFD) induced lipid accumulation in prostate tumors and was sufficient to drive metastasis in a nonmetastatic Pten-null mouse model of CaP, and an SREBP signature was highly enriched in metastatic human CaP. Thus, our findings uncover a prometastatic lipogenic program and lend direct genetic and experimental support to the notion that a Western HFD can promote metastasis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / genetics
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Lipogenesis / genetics*
  • Male
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • PC-3 Cells
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase / genetics
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins / genetics
  • Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins / physiology*

Substances

  • Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase
  • Pten protein, mouse