Szulta Anna, Wang Lin, Hasan Ameera, Kinter Michael, Pranay Atul, Zhu Jie, Humphries Kenneth M, Loveland Brooke, Griffin Timothy M, Bieniasz Magdalena
Aging and Metabolism Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
Cardiovascular Biology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
Cancers (Basel). 2025 Jun 11;17(12):1942. doi: 10.3390/cancers17121942.
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic malignancies due to limited therapeutic options. Our data show that the tumor-specific metabolism of ovarian cancer could be effectively targetable, which highlights a path for new anti-cancer therapies. Our work shows that the upregulation of mitochondrial enzyme SDHA is particularly prevalent in ovarian carcinoma. SDHA overexpression significantly induced orthotopic ovarian tumor growth, reducing mouse survival. We showed that SDHA-overexpressing tumors depend on glutaminolysis and increased activity of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle coupled with mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), which are essential for high-energy metabolism and cell survival. We identified a distinctive vulnerability of SDHA-overexpressing tumors to agents targeting regulators of the OXPHOS pathway, particularly the LRPPRC protein. LRPPRC is a key regulator of mitochondrial energy metabolism, promoting OXPHOS and ATP generation. However, when overexpressed, the LRPPRC acts as a tumor oncogene. Our analysis of SDHA and LRPPRC gene and protein expression patterns in precursor lesions and established ovarian cancer demonstrated that the upregulation of SDHA is accompanied by LRPPRC overexpression, notably in advanced tumors. Our novel findings highlight for the first time a potential functional interaction between SDHA and LRPPRC in the development and progression of ovarian malignancy. Importantly, our in vivo data showed that pharmacological inhibition of LRPPRC results in a lasting therapeutic benefit and can be an effective therapy in SDHA- and LRPPRC-overexpressing ovarian tumors. Overall, our study underlines an understudied role of concomitant overexpression of SDHA and LRPPRC in ovarian cancer pathogenesis, highlighting new paths for therapeutic development.
由于治疗选择有限,卵巢癌是所有妇科恶性肿瘤中最致命的。我们的数据表明,卵巢癌的肿瘤特异性代谢可以成为有效的靶向目标,这为新的抗癌疗法指明了道路。我们的研究表明,线粒体酶SDHA的上调在卵巢癌中尤为普遍。SDHA的过表达显著诱导原位卵巢肿瘤生长,缩短小鼠生存期。我们发现,过表达SDHA的肿瘤依赖于谷氨酰胺分解代谢以及三羧酸(TCA)循环活性的增加,并与线粒体氧化磷酸化(OXPHOS)相关联,而这对于高能量代谢和细胞存活至关重要。我们确定了过表达SDHA的肿瘤对靶向OXPHOS途径调节因子的药物,特别是LRPPRC蛋白具有独特的易感性。LRPPRC是线粒体能量代谢的关键调节因子,可促进OXPHOS和ATP生成。然而,当LRPPRC过表达时,它会作为肿瘤癌基因发挥作用。我们对前体病变和已确诊的卵巢癌中SDHA和LRPPRC基因及蛋白表达模式的分析表明,SDHA的上调伴随着LRPPRC的过表达,在晚期肿瘤中尤为明显。我们的新发现首次突出了SDHA和LRPPRC在卵巢恶性肿瘤发生和发展过程中潜在的功能相互作用。重要的是,我们的体内数据表明,对LRPPRC的药理抑制可带来持久的治疗益处,并且可以作为过表达SDHA和LRPPRC的卵巢肿瘤的有效治疗方法。总体而言,我们的研究强调了SDHA和LRPPRC共过表达在卵巢癌发病机制中未被充分研究的作用,为治疗开发指明了新的方向。
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