Project description:Purpose: The purpose of this study is to detect activated or silenced genes during bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) transfected with control siRNA or Acly-E14 siRNA. Gene expression differences between two samples could be found using transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq) analysis. Methods: Mouse BMDMs were generated from bone marrow cells in RPMI-1640 medium with recombinant mouse M-CSF (20ng/ml). BMDMs were stained to confirm the surface expression of CD11b and F4/80. Cells with purity >97.5% were used for subsequent experiments. BMDMs were transfected with control siRNA or Acly-E14 siRNA. 48 hour later, they were stimulated with LPS (100ng/ml) for 4 hours, of which RNA profiles were generated by deep sequencing, using Illumina. Results: We mapped about 10 million sequence reads per sample to the mouse genome, identified hundreds of genes with significant mRNA variation between BMDMs transfected with the indicated siRNAs.
Project description:Purpose: The purpose of this study is to detect activated or silenced genes during bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) transfected with control siRNA or Acly-E14 siRNA. Gene expression differences between two samples could be found using transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq) analysis. Methods: Mouse BMDMs were generated from bone marrow cells in RPMI-1640 medium with recombinant mouse M-CSF (20ng/ml). BMDMs were stained to confirm the surface expression of CD11b and F4/80. Cells with purity >97.5% were used for subsequent experiments. BMDMs were transfected with control ASO or Acly-E14 ASO. 48 hour later, they were stimulated with LPS (100ng/ml) for 4 hours, of which RNA profiles were generated by deep sequencing, using Illumina. Results: We mapped about 10 million sequence reads per sample to the mouse genome, identified hundreds of genes with significant mRNA variation between BMDMs transfected with the indicated ASOs.
Project description:De novo lipogenesis is activated in most cancers. Several lipogenic enzymes are implicated in oncogenesis and represent potential cancer therapeutic targets. RNA interference-mediated depletion of ATP citrate lyase (ACLY), the enzyme that catalyzes the first step of de novo lipogenesis, leads to growth suppression in a subset of human cancer cells. Here we demonstrate the molecular basis and potential biomarkers for ACLY-targeting therapy. First, suppression of cancer cell growth by ACLY depletion involves down-regulation of fatty acid elongase ELOVL6 at the transcriptional level. Lipid profiling revealed that ACLY depletion alters fatty acid composition in triglyceride; increased palmitate and decreased longer fatty acids, in accordance with ELOVL6 down-regulation. Second, ACLY depletion increases reactive oxygen species (ROS), whereas addition of antioxidant reduces ROS and attenuates the growth suppression. Third, ACLY depletion or ROS stimulation induce phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a sensor of energy and lipid metabolism. Analysis of various cancer cell lines revealed that the levels of AMPK phosphorylation (p-AMPK) correlate with the basal ROS levels, and that cancer cells with low basal p-AMPK (i.e., low basal ROS) levels are highly susceptible to ACLY depletion-mediated growth suppression. Finally, in clinical colon cancer tissues, p-AMPK levels are significantly decreased in aggressive tumors and correlate with the levels of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, a hallmark of ROS stimulation. Together, these data suggest that ACLY inhibition suppresses cancer growth via palmitate-mediated lipotoxicity, and p-AMPK could be a predictive biomarker for its therapeutic outcome. Two cell lines are treated with ACLY siRNA. The samples include controls of each cell line.
Project description:In order to propagate a solid tumor, cancer cells must adapt to and survive under various tumor microenvironment (TME) stresses, such as hypoxia or lactic acidosis. To systematically identify genes that modulate cancer cell survival under stresses, we performed genome-wide shRNA screens under hypoxia or lactic acidosis. We discovered that genetic depletion of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACACA or ACC1) or ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) protected cancer cells from hypoxia-induced apoptosis. Additionally, loss of ACLY or ACC1 reduced levels and activities of the oncogenic transcription factor ETV4. Silencing ETV4 also protected cells from hypoxia-induced apoptosis and led to remarkably similar transcriptional responses as with silenced ACLY or ACC1, including an anti-apoptotic program. Metabolomic analysis found that while α-ketoglutarate levels decrease under hypoxia in control cells, α-ketoglutarate is paradoxically increased by hypoxia when ACC1 or ACLY are depleted. Supplementation with α-ketoglutarate rescued the hypoxia-induced apoptosis and recapitulated the decreased expression and activity of ETV4 via an epigenetic mechanism. Therefore, ACC1 and ACLY regulate the levels of ETV4 under hypoxia via increased α-ketoglutarate. These results reveal that ACC1/ACLY- α-ketoglutarate-ETV4 is a novel means by which metabolic states regulate transcriptional output for life vs. death decisions under hypoxia. Since many lipogenic inhibitors are under investigation as cancer therapeutics, our findings suggest that the use of these inhibitors will need to be carefully considered with respect to oncogenic drivers, tumor hypoxia, progression and dormancy. More broadly, our screen provides a framework for studying additional tumor cell stress-adaption mechanisms in the future. DESIGN: H1975 lung cancer cells transduced with a scramble shRNA hairpin or two different shRNAs against ACLY, ACC1, or ETV4 under hypoxia.