Relevance of lipogenesis and AMPK/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in endometrial cancer

New evidence is presented for differences in lipid metabolism between healthy and cancer cells, which has increased considerably in recent years. Alterations in lipid metabolism affect important processes such as cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the gene expression levels of the enzymes which have a function in lipid metabolisms such as fatty acid synthase (FASN), sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), protein kinase B (Akt), and AMP-activating protein kinase (AMPK) in patients with endometrial cancer.

This study included 60 patients diagnosed with endometrial adenocarcinoma which subgrouped as Grade 1 (n = 20), Grade 2 (n = 20), Grade 3 (n = 20). For control group endometrial tissues from 30 individuals subgrouped as control 1 (n = 15) secretory phase and control 2 (n = 15) proliferative phase healthy endometrial tissues. Gene expression analysis was performed using Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

PI3K gene expression levels were decreased in patients with Grade 3 endometrial cancer compared to Grade 1 and 2 (p <0.05). The gene expression levels of Akt and mTOR were decreased in the Grade 3 patients compared to control groups. The gene expression levels of SREBP, FASN, and AMPK were decreased in all patients' groups compared to control groups (p <0.05).

The results suggest that while lipogenesis may show different tissue-specific behaviors related to some pathways, it may have a direct relationship with endometrial cancer.