Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Nat Commun. 2023 May 20;14(1):2894. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38594-3.
SMARCA4 (BRG1) and SMARCA2 (BRM) are the two paralogous ATPases of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes frequently inactivated in cancers. Cells deficient in either ATPase have been shown to depend on the remaining counterpart for survival. Contrary to this paralog synthetic lethality, concomitant loss of SMARCA4/2 occurs in a subset of cancers associated with very poor outcomes. Here, we uncover that SMARCA4/2-loss represses expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1, causing reduced glucose uptake and glycolysis accompanied with increased dependency on oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS); adapting to this, these SMARCA4/2-deficient cells rely on elevated SLC38A2, an amino acid transporter, to increase glutamine import for fueling OXPHOS. Consequently, SMARCA4/2-deficient cells and tumors are highly sensitive to inhibitors targeting OXPHOS or glutamine metabolism. Furthermore, supplementation of alanine, also imported by SLC38A2, restricts glutamine uptake through competition and selectively induces death in SMARCA4/2-deficient cancer cells. At a clinically relevant dose, alanine supplementation synergizes with OXPHOS inhibition or conventional chemotherapy eliciting marked antitumor activity in patient-derived xenografts. Our findings reveal multiple druggable vulnerabilities of SMARCA4/2-loss exploiting a GLUT1/SLC38A2-mediated metabolic shift. Particularly, unlike dietary deprivation approaches, alanine supplementation can be readily applied to current regimens for better treatment of these aggressive cancers.
SMARCA4(BRG1)和 SMARCA2(BRM)是 SWI/SNF 染色质重塑复合物的两个同源 ATP 酶,在癌症中经常失活。已经证明,缺乏任一 ATP 酶的细胞依赖于剩余的同源物来存活。与这种同源物合成致死相反,在与预后非常差相关的一部分癌症中会同时丧失 SMARCA4/2。在这里,我们发现 SMARCA4/2 缺失会抑制葡萄糖转运蛋白 GLUT1 的表达,导致葡萄糖摄取和糖酵解减少,同时伴随着氧化磷酸化(OXPHOS)的依赖性增加;为了适应这种情况,这些 SMARCA4/2 缺陷细胞依赖于上调 SLC38A2,一种氨基酸转运蛋白,以增加谷氨酰胺的摄取来为 OXPHOS 提供燃料。因此,SMARCA4/2 缺陷细胞和肿瘤对靶向 OXPHOS 或谷氨酰胺代谢的抑制剂高度敏感。此外,通过 SLC38A2 导入的丙氨酸的补充会通过竞争限制谷氨酰胺摄取,并选择性地诱导 SMARCA4/2 缺陷癌细胞死亡。在临床相关剂量下,丙氨酸补充与 OXPHOS 抑制或常规化疗协同作用,在患者来源的异种移植中引起明显的抗肿瘤活性。我们的研究结果揭示了多种针对 SMARCA4/2 缺失的可药物治疗的弱点,利用 GLUT1/SLC38A2 介导的代谢重编程。特别是,与饮食剥夺方法不同,丙氨酸补充可以很容易地应用于当前的治疗方案,以更好地治疗这些侵袭性癌症。