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Published on: January 4, 2018
α-Ketoglutarate-Activated NF-κB Signaling Promotes Compensatory Glucose Uptake and Brain Tumor Development
Xiongjun Wang1, Ruilong Liu2, Xiujuan Qu3
1State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Andrology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; Precise Genome Engineering Center, School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Abstract:
The rapid proliferation of cancer cells and dysregulated vasculature within the tumor leads to limited nutrient accessibility. Cancer cells often rewire their metabolic pathways for adaption to nutrient stress, and the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. Glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GDH1) is a key enzyme in glutaminolysis that converts glutamate to α-ketoglutarate (α-KG). Here, we show that, under low glucose, GDH1 is phosphorylated at serine (S) 384 and interacts with RelA and IKKβ. GDH1-produced α-KG directly binds to and activates IKKβ and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling, which promotes glucose uptake and tumor cell survival by upregulating GLUT1, thereby accelerating gliomagenesis. In addition, GDH1 S384 phosphorylation correlates with the malignancy and prognosis of human glioblastoma. Our finding reveals a unique role of α-KG to directly regulate signal pathway, uncovers a distinct mechanism of metabolite-mediated NF-κB activation, and also establishes the critical role of α-KG-activated NF-κB in brain tumor development.
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