Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Publication Date

7-26-2022

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-31963-4

PMID

35882862

PMCID

PMC9325712

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

7-26-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Mutant KRAS (KM), the most common oncogene in lung cancer (LC), regulates fatty acid (FA) metabolism. However, the role of FA in LC tumorigenesis is still not sufficiently characterized. Here, we show that KMLC has a specific lipid profile, with high triacylglycerides and phosphatidylcholines (PC). We demonstrate that FASN, the rate-limiting enzyme in FA synthesis, while being dispensable in EGFR-mutant or wild-type KRAS LC, is required for the viability of KMLC cells. Integrating lipidomic, transcriptomic and functional analyses, we demonstrate that FASN provides saturated and monounsaturated FA to the Lands cycle, the process remodeling oxidized phospholipids, such as PC. Accordingly, blocking either FASN or the Lands cycle in KMLC, promotes ferroptosis, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)- and iron-dependent cell death, characterized by the intracellular accumulation of oxidation-prone PC. Our work indicates that KM dictates a dependency on newly synthesized FA to escape ferroptosis, establishing a targetable vulnerability in KMLC.

Keywords

Ferroptosis, Humans, Lipid Metabolism, Lipogenesis, Lung Neoplasms, Phosphatidylcholines, Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)

Published Open-Access

yes

41467_2022_Article_32459.pdf (349 kB)
Correction

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.