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Journal of Experimental & Clinical... Jul 2020Liver cancer has become the sixth most diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is responsible for up to... (Review)
Review
Liver cancer has become the sixth most diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is responsible for up to 75-85% of primary liver cancers, and sorafenib is the first targeted drug for advanced HCC treatment. However, sorafenib resistance is common because of the resultant enhancement of aerobic glycolysis and other molecular mechanisms. Aerobic glycolysis was firstly found in HCC, acts as a hallmark of liver cancer and is responsible for the regulation of proliferation, immune evasion, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and drug resistance in HCC. The three rate-limiting enzymes in the glycolytic pathway, including hexokinase 2 (HK2), phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK1), and pyruvate kinases type M2 (PKM2) play an important role in the regulation of aerobic glycolysis in HCC and can be regulated by many mechanisms, such as the AMPK, PI3K/Akt pathway, HIF-1α, c-Myc and noncoding RNAs. Because of the importance of aerobic glycolysis in the progression of HCC, targeting key factors in its pathway such as the inhibition of HK2, PFK or PKM2, represent potential new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of HCC.
Topics: Aerobiosis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Glycolysis; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 32631382
DOI: 10.1186/s13046-020-01629-4 -
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. B Feb 2022Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive human cancer with increasing incidence worldwide. Multiple efforts have been made to explore pharmaceutical therapies to... (Review)
Review
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive human cancer with increasing incidence worldwide. Multiple efforts have been made to explore pharmaceutical therapies to treat HCC, such as targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immune based therapies and combination of chemotherapy. However, limitations exist in current strategies including chemoresistance for instance. Tumor initiation and progression is driven by reprogramming of metabolism, in particular during HCC development. Recently, metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), a reappraisal of new nomenclature for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), indicates growing appreciation of metabolism in the pathogenesis of liver disease, including HCC, thereby suggesting new strategies by targeting abnormal metabolism for HCC treatment. In this review, we introduce directions by highlighting the metabolic targets in glucose, fatty acid, amino acid and glutamine metabolism, which are suitable for HCC pharmaceutical intervention. We also summarize and discuss current pharmaceutical agents and studies targeting deregulated metabolism during HCC treatment. Furthermore, opportunities and challenges in the discovery and development of HCC therapy targeting metabolism are discussed.
PubMed: 35256934
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.09.019 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2021Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a classic autoimmune disease characterized by uncontrolled synovial proliferation, pannus formation, cartilage injury, and bone destruction.... (Review)
Review
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a classic autoimmune disease characterized by uncontrolled synovial proliferation, pannus formation, cartilage injury, and bone destruction. The specific pathogenesis of RA, a chronic inflammatory disease, remains unclear. However, both key glycolysis rate-limiting enzymes, hexokinase-II (HK-II), phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1), and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), as well as indirect rate-limiting enzymes, 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), are thought to participate in the pathogenesis of RA. In here, we review the latest literature on the pathogenesis of RA, introduce the pathophysiological characteristics of HK-II, PFK-1/PFKFB3, and PKM2 and their expression characteristics in this autoimmune disease, and systematically assess the association between the glycolytic rate-limiting enzymes and RA from a molecular level. Moreover, we highlight HK-II, PFK-1/PFKFB3, and PKM2 as potential targets for the clinical treatment of RA. There is great potential to develop new anti-rheumatic therapies through safe inhibition or overexpression of glycolysis rate-limiting enzymes.
Topics: Animals; Antirheumatic Agents; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Carrier Proteins; Enzyme Inhibitors; Enzymes; Glucose; Glycolysis; Hexokinase; Humans; Joints; Kinetics; Membrane Proteins; Phosphofructokinase-1; Phosphofructokinase-2; Thyroid Hormones; Thyroid Hormone-Binding Proteins
PubMed: 34899740
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.779787 -
Immunological Reviews Mar 2020In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), breakdown of self-tolerance and onset of clinical disease are separated in time and space, supporting a multi-hit model in which emergence... (Review)
Review
In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), breakdown of self-tolerance and onset of clinical disease are separated in time and space, supporting a multi-hit model in which emergence of autoreactive T cells is a pinnacle pathogenic event. Determining factors in T cell differentiation and survival include antigen recognition, but also the metabolic machinery that provides energy and biosynthetic molecules for cell building. Studies in patients with RA have yielded a disease-specific metabolic signature, which enables naive CD4 T cells to differentiate into pro-inflammatory helper T cells that are prone to invade into tissue and elicit inflammation through immunogenic cell death. A typifying property of RA CD4 T cells is the shunting of glucose away from glycolytic breakdown and mitochondrial processing toward the pentose phosphate pathway, favoring anabolic over catabolic reactions. Key defects have been localized to the mitochondria and the lysosome; including instability of mitochondrial DNA due to the lack of the DNA repair nuclease MRE11A and inefficient lysosomal tethering of AMPK due to deficiency of N-myristoyltransferase 1 (NMT1). The molecular taxonomy of the metabolically reprogrammed RA T cells includes glycolytic enzymes (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphofructokinase), DNA repair molecules (MRE11A, ATM), regulators of protein trafficking (NMT1), and the membrane adapter protein TSK5. As the mechanisms determining abnormal T cell behavior in RA are unraveled, opportunities will emerge to interject autoimmune T cells by targeting their metabolic checkpoints.
Topics: Animals; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Autoimmunity; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; DNA Damage; DNA Repair; Glycolysis; Humans; Macrophages; Mitochondria; Protein Transport
PubMed: 31984519
DOI: 10.1111/imr.12838 -
Annals of Medicine Dec 2023Sepsis is still the leading cause of death as a result of infection. Metabolic disorder plays a vital role in sepsis progression. Glycolysis intensification is the most... (Review)
Review
Sepsis is still the leading cause of death as a result of infection. Metabolic disorder plays a vital role in sepsis progression. Glycolysis intensification is the most characteristic feature of sepsis-related metabolic disorders. The enzyme 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) is a critical engine that controls the rate of glycolysis. Recent studies have revealed that sepsis accelerates the rate of PFKFB3-driven glycolysis in different cells, including macrophages, neutrophils, endothelial cells and lung fibroblasts. Furthermore, increased PFKFB3 is closely related to the excessive inflammatory response and high mortality in sepsis. Interestingly, inhibition of PFKFB3 alone or in combination has also shown great potential in the treatment of sepsis. Therefore, an improved understanding of the canonical and noncanonical functions of PFKFB3 may provide a novel combinatorial therapeutic target for sepsis. This review summarizes the role of PFKFB3-driven glycolysis in the regulation of immunocyte activation and nonimmune cell damage in sepsis. In addition, we present recent achievements in the development of PFKFB3 drugs and discuss their potential therapeutic roles in sepsis.KEY MESSAGESepsis induces high expression of PFKFB3 in immunocytes and nonimmune cells, thereby enhancing cellular glycolytic flux.PFKFB3-driven glycolysis reprogramming is closely related to an excessive inflammatory response and high mortality in sepsis.Inhibition of PFKFB3 alone or in combination provides a novel combinatorial therapeutic target for sepsis.
Topics: Humans; Phosphofructokinase-2; Endothelial Cells; Lung; Sepsis; Glycolysis
PubMed: 37199341
DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2191217 -
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy Sep 2022Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), the process wherein endothelial cells lose endothelial identity and adopt mesenchymal-like phenotypes, constitutes a...
Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), the process wherein endothelial cells lose endothelial identity and adopt mesenchymal-like phenotypes, constitutes a critical contributor to cardiac fibrosis. The phenotypic plasticity of endothelial cells can be intricately shaped by alteration of metabolic pathways, but how endothelial cells adjust cellular metabolism to drive EndoMT is incompletely understood. Here, we identified 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) as a critical driver of EndoMT via triggering abnormal glycolysis and compromising mitochondrial respiration. Pharmacological suppression of PFKFB3 with salvianolic acid C (SAC), a phenolic compound derived from Salvia miltiorrhiza, attenuates EndoMT and fibrotic response. PFKFB3-haplodeficiency recapitulates the anti-EndoMT effect of SAC while PFKFB3-overexpression augments the magnitude of EndoMT and exacerbates cardiac fibrosis. Mechanistically, PFKFB3-driven glycolysis compromises cytoplasmic nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced form, NADPH) production via hijacking glucose flux from pentose phosphate pathway. Efflux of mitochondrial NADPH through isocitrate/α-ketoglutarate shuttle replenishes cytoplasmic NADPH pool but meanwhile impairs mitochondrial respiration by hampering mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis. SAC disrupts PFKFB3 stability by accelerating its degradation and thus maintains metabolic homeostasis in endothelial cells, underlying its anti-EndoMT effects. These findings for the first time identify the critical role of PFKFB3 in triggering EndoMT by driving abnormal glycolysis in endothelial cells, and also highlight the therapeutic potential for pharmacological intervention of PFKFB3 (with SAC or other PFKFB3 inhibitors) to combat EndoMT-associated fibrotic responses via metabolic regulation.
Topics: Endothelial Cells; Fibrosis; Glycolysis; Humans; NADP; Phosphofructokinase-2
PubMed: 36045132
DOI: 10.1038/s41392-022-01097-6 -
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology... Aug 2021Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness for adults in developed countries. Both microvasculopathy and neurodegeneration are implicated in mechanisms... (Review)
Review
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness for adults in developed countries. Both microvasculopathy and neurodegeneration are implicated in mechanisms of DR development, with neuronal impairment preceding microvascular abnormalities, which is often underappreciated in the clinic. Most current therapeutic strategies, including anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF)-antibodies, aim at treating the advanced stages (diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy) and fail to target the neuronal deterioration. Hence, new therapeutic approach(es) intended to address both vascular and neuronal impairment are urgently needed. The hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α)-6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) pathway is critically implicated in the islet pathology of diabetes. Recent evidence highlighted the pathway relevance for pathologic angiogenesis and neurodegeneration, two key aspects in DR. PFKFB3 is key to the sprouting angiogenesis, along with VEGF, by determining the endothelial tip-cell competition. Also, PFKFB3-driven glycolysis compromises the antioxidative capacity of neurons leading to neuronal loss and reactive gliosis. Therefore, the HIF1α-PFKFB3 signaling pathway is unique as being a pervasive pathological component across multiple cell types in the retina in the early as well as late stages of DR. A metabolic point-of-intervention based on HIF1α-PFKFB3 targeting thus deserves further consideration in DR.
Topics: Diabetic Retinopathy; Glycolysis; Humans; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; Mitochondria; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Oxygen Consumption; Phosphofructokinase-2; Reactive Oxygen Species; Retina; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 34019671
DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgab362 -
Nature Feb 2020The mechanics of the cellular microenvironment continuously modulates cell functions such as growth, survival, apoptosis, differentiation and morphogenesis via...
The mechanics of the cellular microenvironment continuously modulates cell functions such as growth, survival, apoptosis, differentiation and morphogenesis via cytoskeletal remodelling and actomyosin contractility. Although all of these processes consume energy, it is unknown whether and how cells adapt their metabolic activity to variable mechanical cues. Here we report that the transfer of human bronchial epithelial cells from stiff to soft substrates causes a downregulation of glycolysis via proteasomal degradation of the rate-limiting metabolic enzyme phosphofructokinase (PFK). PFK degradation is triggered by the disassembly of stress fibres, which releases the PFK-targeting E3 ubiquitin ligase tripartite motif (TRIM)-containing protein 21 (TRIM21). Transformed non-small-cell lung cancer cells, which maintain high glycolytic rates regardless of changing environmental mechanics, retain PFK expression by downregulating TRIM21, and by sequestering residual TRIM21 on a stress-fibre subset that is insensitive to substrate stiffness. Our data reveal a mechanism by which glycolysis responds to architectural features of the actomyosin cytoskeleton, thus coupling cell metabolism to the mechanical properties of the surrounding tissue. These processes enable normal cells to tune energy production in variable microenvironments, whereas the resistance of the cytoskeleton in response to mechanical cues enables the persistence of high glycolytic rates in cancer cells despite constant alterations of the tumour tissue.
Topics: Actins; Actomyosin; Animals; Bronchi; Cattle; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line; Cellular Microenvironment; Cytoskeleton; Epithelial Cells; Glucose; Glycolysis; Hardness; Humans; Neoplasms; Phosphofructokinases; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Ribonucleoproteins; Stress Fibers; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
PubMed: 32051585
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1998-1 -
Theranostics 2021Metabolic reprogramming, especially Warburg effect, is a key event in tumor initiation and progression. ZEB1 plays a vital role in metastasis of various cancers. We...
Metabolic reprogramming, especially Warburg effect, is a key event in tumor initiation and progression. ZEB1 plays a vital role in metastasis of various cancers. We previously found that ZEB1 was excessively expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its high expression was closely correlated with metastasis and recurrence of HCC. We want to know whether glycolytic enzymes are regulated by ZEB1 and contribute to carcinogenesis and metastasis of HCC. To explore whether ZEB1 could enhance glycolysis in HCC, we knocked down ZEB1 by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in MHCC-97H and HCC-LM3 cells and performed glucose uptake, lactate production, ECAR and OCR assays. To investigate how ZEB1 enhances glycolysis, the protein levels of glycolytic enzymes were detected in the same cell lines using Western blot. The regulatory effect of ZEB1 on PFKM mRNA level was confirmed by RT-qPCR, luciferase report assay and ChIP assay. In order to assess the role of ZEB1-PFKM axis in cell proliferation, cell counting and CCK-8 assays were performed in MHCC-97H and HCC-LM3 cell lines knocked down for ZEB1 and further re-expressed for either ZEB1 or PFKM or not. To explored whether the ZEB1-PFKM axis also functions in HCC cell migration, invasion and metastasis, the same MHCC-97H and HCC-LM3 cell lines were performed for wound healing assays, transwell assays and colony formation assays, meanwhile, MHCC-97H cell lines were performed for orthotopic liver transplantation assays. Finally, the expression of ZEB1 and PFKM were examined in human liver cancer specimens and non-tumorous liver tissues using immunohistochemical and Western blot. We found that ZEB1 transcriptionally upregulates the expression of the muscle isoform of phosphofructokinase-1 (PFKM), a rate-limiting enzyme in glycolysis. Intriguingly, a non-classic ZEB1-binding sequence in the promoter region of PFKM was identified through which ZEB1 directly activates the transcription of PFKM. Silencing of ZEB1 in MHCC-97H and HCC-LM3 cell leads to impaired PFKM expression, glycolysis, proliferation and invasion, and such impairments are rescued by exogenous expression of PFKM. Importantly, HCC xenograft assays and studies from TCGA database demonstrate that ZEB1-PFKM axis is crucial for carcinogenesis and metastasis of HCC. Our study reveals a novel mechanism of ZEB1 in promoting HCC by activating the transcription of PFKM, establishing the direct link of ZEB1 to the promotion of glycolysis and Warburg effect and suggesting that inhibition of ZEB1 transcriptional activity toward PFKM may be a potential therapeutic strategy for HCC.
Topics: Animals; Carcinogenesis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Glycolysis; Hep G2 Cells; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Phosphofructokinase-1, Muscle Type; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Small Interfering; Transcription, Genetic; Zinc Finger E-box-Binding Homeobox 1
PubMed: 33897890
DOI: 10.7150/thno.56490