Glutamine deprivation triggers NAGK-dependent hexosamine salvage

Tumors frequently exhibit aberrant glycosylation, which can impact cancer progression and therapeutic responses. The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) produces uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), a major substrate for glycosylation in the cell. Prior studies have identified the...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sydney Campbell, Clementina Mesaros, Luke Izzo, Hayley Affronti, Michael Noji, Bethany E Schaffer, Tiffany Tsang, Kathryn Sun, Sophie Trefely, Salisa Kruijning, John Blenis, Ian A Blair, Kathryn E Wellen
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2021
Materias:
R
Q
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/5ce0bca35ac845fba57a2e6f6f790030
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Tumors frequently exhibit aberrant glycosylation, which can impact cancer progression and therapeutic responses. The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) produces uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), a major substrate for glycosylation in the cell. Prior studies have identified the HBP as a promising therapeutic target in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). The HBP requires both glucose and glutamine for its initiation. The PDA tumor microenvironment is nutrient poor, however, prompting us to investigate how nutrient limitation impacts hexosamine synthesis. Here, we identify that glutamine limitation in PDA cells suppresses de novo hexosamine synthesis but results in increased free GlcNAc abundance. GlcNAc salvage via N-acetylglucosamine kinase (NAGK) is engaged to feed UDP-GlcNAc pools. NAGK expression is elevated in human PDA, and NAGK deletion from PDA cells impairs tumor growth in mice. Together, these data identify an important role for NAGK-dependent hexosamine salvage in supporting PDA tumor growth.