LXR stimulates a metabolic switch and reveals cholesterol homeostasis as a statin target in Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease

Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) and its lack of available therapies are propelling the Tasmanian devil population toward extinction. This study demonstrates that cholesterol homeostasis and carbohydrate energy metabolism sustain the proliferation of DFTD cells in a cell-type-dependent manner. In a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ikonomopoulou, María, López Mancheño, Yaiza, Garrido Novelle, Marta, Martínez Uña, Maite, Gangoda, Lahiru, Pal Martin, Costa Machado, Luis Filipe, Fernández-Marcos, Pablo, Ramm, Grant, Fernández Rojo, Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/94539
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94539
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:576
616.831-006.484
DFTD
Cholesterol
Energy metabolism
LXR
AKT/mTOR
Atorvastatin
Biología celular (Biología)
Oncología
2407.04 Citología
3207 Patología
Descripción
Sumario:Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) and its lack of available therapies are propelling the Tasmanian devil population toward extinction. This study demonstrates that cholesterol homeostasis and carbohydrate energy metabolism sustain the proliferation of DFTD cells in a cell-type-dependent manner. In addition, we show that the liver-X nuclear receptor-β (LXRβ), a major cholesterol cellular sensor, and its natural ligand 24S-hydroxycholesterol promote the proliferation of DFTD cells via a metabolic switch toward aerobic glycolysis. As a proof of concept of the role of cholesterol homeostasis on DFTD proliferation, we show that atorvastatin, an FDA-approved statin-drug subtype used against human cardiovascular diseases that inhibits cholesterol synthesis, shuts down DFTD energy metabolism and prevents tumor growth in an in vivo DFTD-xenograft model. In conclusion, we show that intervention against cholesterol homeostasis and carbohydrate-dependent energy metabolism by atorvastatin constitutes a feasible biochemical treatment against DFTD, which may assist in the conservation of the Tasmanian devil.