RESUMEN
AMPK is a metabolic sensor that helps maintain cellular energy homeostasis. Despite evidence linking AMPK with tumor suppressor functions, the role of AMPK in tumorigenesis and tumor metabolism is unknown. Here we show that AMPK negatively regulates aerobic glycolysis (the Warburg effect) in cancer cells and suppresses tumor growth in vivo. Genetic ablation of the α1 catalytic subunit of AMPK accelerates Myc-induced lymphomagenesis. Inactivation of AMPKα in both transformed and nontransformed cells promotes a metabolic shift to aerobic glycolysis, increased allocation of glucose carbon into lipids, and biomass accumulation. These metabolic effects require normoxic stabilization of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), as silencing HIF-1α reverses the shift to aerobic glycolysis and the biosynthetic and proliferative advantages conferred by reduced AMPKα signaling. Together our findings suggest that AMPK activity opposes tumor development and that its loss fosters tumor progression in part by regulating cellular metabolic pathways that support cell growth and proliferation.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas Quinasas Activadas por AMP/metabolismo , Proteínas Quinasas Activadas por AMP/antagonistas & inhibidores , Proteínas Quinasas Activadas por AMP/genética , Animales , Linfocitos B/metabolismo , Línea Celular , Glucólisis , Células HCT116 , Humanos , Subunidad alfa del Factor 1 Inducible por Hipoxia/antagonistas & inhibidores , Subunidad alfa del Factor 1 Inducible por Hipoxia/genética , Subunidad alfa del Factor 1 Inducible por Hipoxia/metabolismo , Estimación de Kaplan-Meier , Ratones , Ratones Transgénicos , Neoplasias/metabolismo , Neoplasias/mortalidad , Neoplasias/patología , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-myc/metabolismo , Interferencia de ARN , ARN Interferente Pequeño/metabolismo , Transducción de SeñalRESUMEN
The mammalian adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a serine-threonine kinase protein complex that is a central regulator of cellular energy homeostasis. However, the mechanisms by which AMPK mediates cellular responses to metabolic stress remain unclear. We found that AMPK activates transcription through direct association with chromatin and phosphorylation of histone H2B at serine 36. AMPK recruitment and H2B Ser36 phosphorylation colocalized within genes activated by AMPK-dependent pathways, both in promoters and in transcribed regions. Ectopic expression of H2B in which Ser36 was substituted by alanine reduced transcription and RNA polymerase II association to AMPK-dependent genes, and lowered cell survival in response to stress. Our results place AMPK-dependent H2B Ser36 phosphorylation in a direct transcriptional and chromatin regulatory pathway leading to cellular adaptation to stress.