Abstract B64: Development of a novel strategy to overcome drug resistance by targeting ATP citrate lyase and de novo lipogenesis in colorectal cancer cells
Authors: Zhou Yunfei , Tozzi Federico , Xia Ling , Fan Fan , Lu Jia , Maxwell David , Gao Guang , Bornmann William , Weihua Zhang , Ellis Lee M 
Published: March 2013

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Although the response rate to current systemic therapies is ∼50%, drug resistance develops in nearly all patients leading to 50,000 deaths each year. Overcoming drug resistance involves understanding the mechanisms by which cancer cells adapt to the genotoxic stress. Metabolic changes at levels of mitochondria function, glucose metabolism, and de novo synthesis of fatty acids frequently occurs in malignant cells and impacts tumor development and growth. Our laboratory established in vitro drug-resistant models of CRC cells by chronic exposure of HT29 cells to increasing doses of chemotherapeutic agents (oxaliplatin, 5-FU and SN38) over a period of 4–6 months. We recently reported a metabolic switch to the glycolytic phenotype due to mitochondria defects in the oxaliplatin-resistant CRC cells (HT29-OXR) (Zhou et al, Cancer Research, 2012). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that deregulation of de novo lipogenesis pathways plays an important role in chemoresistance of CRC cells.

Methods: A previous study (Bose et al. Br J Ca, 2011) using unbiased proteomic profiling by mass spectroscopy (MS) was used to determine the proteomic signature of defective metabolic pathways in the oxaliplatin-resistant CRC cells (OXR cells). ATP-citrate-lyase (ACLy), the key enzyme of de novo lipogenesis pathway, was examined for protein levels and activation. The lipid content of resistant cells was examined by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Oil Red staining. Transient knockdown of the ACLy protein by siRNA was used to study re-chemosensitization of the resistant cells. A small molecule inhibitor of ACLy was studied in combination with chemotherapeutic agents in resistant CRC cells for growth inhibitory (MTT assay) and cytotoxic effects (PARP cleavage and Annexin V staining). A cell free assay was used to test the potency of the ACLy inhibitor on ACLy activation.

Results: Activated ACLy protein level (phosphorylation on S454) was demonstrated by Western blot analysis in the HT29-OXR and SN38-resistant (HT29-SNR) cells, but not in 5-FU-resistant (HT29-FUR) cells. The OxR cells showed a 2–3 fold increase in lipid droplets numbers (by TEM examination) and fatty acid content (by Oil Red staining) than the parental cells. Furthermore, transient knockdown of the ACLy protein by siRNA demonstrated a return to chemosensitization when cells were treated with oxaliplatin. IC50 values of the ACLy inhibitor for parental HT29 and HT29-OXR, -SNR and —FUR cells were ∼30μM. As a single agent, the ACLy inhibitor blocked phosphorylation of ACLy and induced apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner in parental HT29 cells, and its resistant derivatives -OXR and -SNR cells. Combination of the ACLy inhibitor at concentrations sufficient to block ACLy phosphorylation with oxaliplatin and SN38 showed enhanced effects on growth inhibition (MTT) and apoptosis induction (PARP cleavage and Annexin V assay) in HT29 cells-OXR and -SNR cells.

Conclusions: Chemoresistant CRC cells demonstrated: 1) increased de novo lipogenesis, 2) elevated levels of key lipogenesis enzymes ACLy, 3) dependence on ACLy activity for cell survival under cytotoxic stress. This metabolic switch likely contributes to the chemoresistant phenotype of CRC cells. Targeting an early step of de novo lipogenesis such as blocking ACLy activity may provide a novel strategy to overcome drug-resistance in CRC cells.