bims-lymeca 2023-02-26 papers

bims-lymeca

Biomed News

on Lysosome metabolism in cancer

Issue of 2023‒02‒26
six papers selected by
Harilaos Filippakis
University of New England

Cationic amphiphilic antihistamines inhibit STAT3 via Ca2+-dependent lysosomal H+ efflux.
PIP5K1C Phosphoinositide Kinase Deficiency Distinguishes PIKFYVE-Dependent Cancer Cells from Non-Malignant Cells.
Autolysosomal activation combined with lysosomal destabilization efficiently targets myeloid leukemia cells for cell death.
Serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 knockdown induces apoptosis in ccRCC by causing lysosomal membrane permeabilization via metabolic reprogramming.
Amino acid sensing and lysosomal signaling complexes.
Autophagosome Biogenesis.

Cell Rep. 2023 Feb 17. pii: S2211-1247(23)00148-1. [Epub ahead of print]42(2): 112137

Cationic amphiphilic antihistamines inhibit STAT3 via Ca2+-dependent lysosomal H+ efflux.

Bin Liu, Ran Chen, Yidan Zhang, Jinrong Huang, Yonglun Luo, Susanne Rosthøj, Chenyang Zhao, Marja Jäättelä.

  Commonly used antihistamines and other cationic amphiphilic drugs (CADs) are emerging as putative cancer drugs. Their unique chemical structure enables CADs to accumulate rapidly inside lysosomes, where they increase lysosomal pH, alter lysosomal lipid metabolism, and eventually cause lysosomal membrane permeabilization. Here, we show that CAD-induced rapid elevation in lysosomal pH is caused by a lysosomal H+ efflux that requires P2RX4-mediated lysosomal Ca2+ release and precedes the lysosomal membrane permeabilization. The subsequent cytosolic acidification triggers the dephosphorylation, lysosomal translocation, and inactivation of the oncogenic signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) transcription factor. Moreover, CAD-induced lysosomal H+ efflux sensitizes cancer cells to apoptosis induced by STAT3 inhibition and acts synergistically with STAT3 inhibition in restricting the tumor growth of A549 non-small cell lung carcinoma xenografts. These findings identify lysosomal H+ efflux and STAT3 inhibition as anticancer mechanisms of CADs and reinforce the repurposing of safe and inexpensive CADs as cancer drugs with a drug combination strategy.

Keywords:  CP: Cancer; P2RX4; STAT3; antihistamine; apoptosis; drug repurposing; lysosome; pH regulation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112137
Autophagy. 2023 Feb 21.

PIP5K1C Phosphoinositide Kinase Deficiency Distinguishes PIKFYVE-Dependent Cancer Cells from Non-Malignant Cells.

Ajit Roy, Arup R Chakraborty, Tyzoon Nomanbhoy, Melvin L DePamphilis.

  Although PIKFYVE phosphoinositide kinase inhibitors can selectively eliminate PIKFYVE-dependent human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, the basis for this selectivity has remained elusive. Here we show that the sensitivity of cells to the PIKFYVE inhibitor WX8 is not linked to PIKFYVE expression, macroautophagic/autophagic flux, the BRAFV600E mutation, or ambiguous inhibitor specificity. PIKYVE dependence results from a deficiency in the PIP5K1C phosphoinositide kinase, an enzyme required for conversion of phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PtdIns4P) into phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns[4,5]P2/PIP2), a phosphoinositide associated with lysosome homeostasis, endosome trafficking, and autophagy. PtdIns(4,5)P2 is produced via two independent pathways. One requires PIP5K1C; the other requires PIKFYVE and PIP4K2C to convert PtdIns3P into PtdIns(4,5)P2. In PIKFYVE-dependent cells, low concentrations of WX8 specifically inhibit PIKFYVE in situ, thereby increasing the level of its substrate PtdIns3P while suppressing PtdIns(4,5)P2 synthesis and inhibiting lysosome function and cell proliferation. At higher concentrations, WX8 inhibits both PIKFYVE and PIP4K2C in situ, which amplifies these effects to further disrupt autophagy and induce cell death. WX8 did not alter PtdIns4P levels. Consequently, inhibition of PIP5K1C in WX8-resistant cells transformed them into sensitive cells, and overexpression of PIP5K1C in WX8-sensitive cells increased their resistance to WX8. This discovery suggests that PIKFYVE-dependent cancers could be identified clinically by low levels of PIP5K1C and treated with PIKFYVE inhibitors.

Keywords:  5)P2; PIKFYVE; PIP2; PIP4K2C; PIP5K1C; PtdIns(4; WX8; autophagy; lysosome

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2023.2182594
Front Oncol. 2023 ;13 999738

Autolysosomal activation combined with lysosomal destabilization efficiently targets myeloid leukemia cells for cell death.

Harshit Shah, Metodi Stankov, Diana Panayotova-Dimitrova, Amir Yazdi, Ramachandramouli Budida, Jan-Henning Klusmann, Georg M N Behrens.

  Introduction: Current cancer research has led to a renewed interest in exploring lysosomal membrane permeabilization and lysosomal cell death as a targeted therapeutic approach for cancer treatment. Evidence suggests that differences in lysosomal biogenesis between cancer and normal cells might open a therapeutic window. Lysosomal membrane stability may be affected by the so-called 'busy lysosomal behaviour' characterized by higher lysosomal abundance and activity and more intensive fusion or interaction with other vacuole compartments.Methods: We used a panel of multiple myeloid leukemia (ML) cell lines as well as leukemic patient samples and updated methodology to study auto-lysosomal compartment, lysosomal membrane permeabilization and lysosomal cell death.
Results: Our analyses demonstrated several-fold higher constitutive autolysosomal activity in ML cells as compared to human CD34+ hematopoietic cells. Importantly, we identified mefloquine as a selective activator of ML cells' lysosomal biogenesis, which induced a sizeable increase in ML lysosomal mass, acidity as well as cathepsin B and L activity. Concomitant mTOR inhibition synergistically increased lysosomal activity and autolysosomal fusion and simultaneously decreased the levels of key lysosomal stabilizing proteins, such as LAMP-1 and 2.
Discussion: In conclusion, mefloquine treatment combined with mTOR inhibition synergistically induced targeted ML cell death without additional toxicity. Taken together, these data provide a molecular mechanism and thus a rationale for a therapeutic approach for specific targeting of ML lysosomes.

Keywords:  cancer treatment; lysosomal cell death; lysosomal membrane permeabilization; mefloquine and autophagy; myeloid leukemia

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.999738
Cell Death Dis. 2023 Feb 20. 14(2): 144

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 knockdown induces apoptosis in ccRCC by causing lysosomal membrane permeabilization via metabolic reprogramming.

Zhangnan Liu, Mengzhen Fan, Junqing Hou, Sijing Pan, Yanxin Xu, Hailong Zhang, Chen Liu, Xiangjun Hao, Xia Li, Huijuan Wang.

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2) plays an important role in converting serine to glycine and supplying carbon to one-carbon metabolism to sustain cancer cell proliferation. However, the expression, function, and underlying mechanisms of SHMT2 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remain largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that SHMT2 was upregulated in ccRCC tissues compared with controls and associated with patient survival. SHMT2 knockdown inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion in ccRCC cells. Overexpression of SHMT2 promoted tumor progression. Mechanistically, SHMT2 depletion disrupted one-carbon metabolism, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and decreased ATP levels via metabolic reprogramming, which destroyed cell homeostasis. The SHMT2 knockdown-induced stress activated autophagy. A mass of autophagosomes fused with lysosomes, resulting in lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) and leakage of lysosomal contents into the cytoplasm, which eventually led to apoptosis. Our work reveals that SHMT2 functions as an oncogenic gene to promote ccRCC progression. SHMT2 depletion induces apoptosis by causing LMP through excessive activation of the autophagy-lysosome pathway via metabolic reprogramming.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-023-05677-4
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2023 Feb 16. pii: S0959-440X(23)00018-0. [Epub ahead of print]79 102544

Amino acid sensing and lysosomal signaling complexes.

Zhicheng Cui, Aaron M N Joiner, Rachel M Jansen, James H Hurley.

Amino acid pools in the cell are monitored by dedicated sensors, whose structures are now coming into view. The lysosomal Rag GTPases are central to this pathway, and the regulation of their GAP complexes, FLCN-FNIP and GATOR1, have been worked out in detail. For FLCN-FNIP, the entire chain of events from the arginine transporter SLC38A9 to substrate-specific mTORC1 activation has been visualized. The structure GATOR2 has been determined, hinting at an ordering of amino acid signaling across a larger size scale than anticipated. The centerpiece of lysosomal signaling, mTORC1, has been revealed to recognize its substrates by more nuanced and substrate-specific mechanisms than previous appreciated. Beyond the well-studied Rag GTPase and mTORC1 machinery, another lysosomal amino acid sensor/effector system, that of PQLC2 and the C9orf72-containing CSW complex, is coming into structural view. These developments hold promise for further insights into lysosomal physiology and lysosome-centric therapeutics.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102544
Cells. 2023 Feb 20. pii: 668. [Epub ahead of print]12(4):

Autophagosome Biogenesis.

Yan Zhen, Harald Stenmark.

  Autophagy-the lysosomal degradation of cytoplasm-plays a central role in cellular homeostasis and protects cells from potentially harmful agents that may accumulate in the cytoplasm, including pathogens, protein aggregates, and dysfunctional organelles. This process is initiated by the formation of a phagophore membrane, which wraps around a portion of cytoplasm or cargo and closes to form a double-membrane autophagosome. Upon the fusion of the autophagosome with a lysosome, the sequestered material is degraded by lysosomal hydrolases in the resulting autolysosome. Several alternative membrane sources of autophagosomes have been proposed, including the plasma membrane, endosomes, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, lipid droplets, hybrid organelles, and de novo synthesis. Here, we review recent progress in our understanding of how the autophagosome is formed and highlight the proposed role of vesicles that contain the lipid scramblase ATG9 as potential seeds for phagophore biogenesis. We also discuss how the phagophore is sealed by the action of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) proteins.

Keywords:  ESCRT; autophagosome; autophagy; endosome; lipid transport; lysosome

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12040668