Department of Gastroenterology, Huadong Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Clinical Geriatric Medicine, Shanghai 200040, P.R. China.
Int J Biol Sci. 2023 May 11;19(8):2613-2629. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.81498. eCollection 2023.
Aerobic glycolysis has pleiotropic roles in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Emerging studies revealed key promoters of aerobic glycolysis, however, little is known about its negative regulators in HCC. In this study, an integrative analysis identifies a repertoire of differentially expressed genes (, , , , , , , and ) that are inversely associated with the glycolytic phenotype in HCC. ACE2, a member of the rennin-angiotensin system, is revealed to be downregulated in HCC and predicts a poor prognosis. ACE2 overexpression significantly inhibits the glycolytic flux as evidenced by reduced glucose uptake, lactate release, extracellular acidification rate, and the expression of glycolytic genes. Opposite results are noticed in loss-of-function studies. Mechanistically, ACE2 metabolizes Ang II to Ang-(1-7), which activates Mas receptor and leads to the phosphorylation of Src homology 2-containing inositol phosphatase 2 (SHP-2). SHP2 activation further blocks reactive oxygen species (ROS)-HIF1α signaling. Addition of Ang-(1-7) or the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine compromises additive tumor growth and aerobic glycolysis induced by ACE2 knockdown. Moreover, growth advantages afforded by ACE2 knockdown are largely glycolysis-dependent. In clinical settings, a close link between ACE2 expression and HIF1α or the phosphorated level of SHP2 is found. Overexpression of ACE2 significantly retards tumor growth in patient-derived xenograft model. Collectively, our findings suggest that ACE2 is a negative glycolytic regulator, and targeting the ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas receptor/ROS/HIF1α axis may be a promising therapeutic strategy for HCC treatment.
有氧糖酵解在肝细胞癌 (HCC) 的发病机制中具有多种作用。新兴研究揭示了有氧糖酵解的关键促进剂,然而,对于 HCC 中其负调节因子知之甚少。在这项研究中,综合分析确定了一组差异表达基因(,,,,,,, 和 ),这些基因与 HCC 中的糖酵解表型呈负相关。血管紧张素转换酶 2 (ACE2) 是肾素-血管紧张素系统的成员,在 HCC 中下调,并预测预后不良。ACE2 的过表达显著抑制糖酵解通量,表现为葡萄糖摄取、乳酸释放、细胞外酸化率和糖酵解基因的表达减少。在功能丧失研究中则注意到相反的结果。在机制上,ACE2 将 Ang II 代谢为 Ang-(1-7),后者激活 Mas 受体并导致Src 同源 2 含有肌醇磷酸酶 2 (SHP-2) 的磷酸化。SHP2 的激活进一步阻断活性氧 (ROS)-HIF1α 信号通路。添加 Ang-(1-7) 或抗氧化剂 N-乙酰半胱氨酸会损害由 ACE2 敲低引起的肿瘤生长和有氧糖酵解的 加性。此外,ACE2 敲低提供的生长优势在很大程度上依赖于糖酵解。在临床环境中,发现 ACE2 表达与 HIF1α 或 SHP2 的磷酸化水平之间存在密切联系。ACE2 的过表达显著抑制患者来源的异种移植模型中的肿瘤生长。总之,我们的研究结果表明 ACE2 是一种负性糖酵解调节剂,靶向 ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas 受体/ROS/HIF1α 轴可能是治疗 HCC 的一种有前途的治疗策略。