Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

eEF-2 kinase is a critical regulator of Warburg effect through controlling PP2A-A synthesis

eEF-2 kinase is a critical regulator of Warburg effect through controlling PP2A-A synthesis Cancer cells predominantly metabolize glucose by glycolysis to produce energy in order to meet their metabolic requirement, a phenomenon known as Warburg effect. Although Warburg effect is considered a peculiarity critical for survival and proliferation of cancer cells, the regulatory mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain incompletely understood. We report here that eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF-2K), a negative regulator of protein synthesis, has a critical role in promoting glycolysis in cancer cells. We showed that deficiency in eEF-2K significantly reduced the uptake of glucose and decreased the productions of lactate and adenosine triphosphate in tumor cells and in the Ras-transformed mouse embryonic fibroblasts. We further demonstrated that the promotive effect of eEF-2K on glycolysis resulted from the kinase-mediated restriction of synthesis of the protein phosphatase 2A-A (PP2A-A), a key factor that facilitates the ubiquitin–proteasomal degradation of c-Myc protein, as knockdown of eEF-2K expression led to a significant increase in PP2A-A protein synthesis and remarkable downregulation of c-Myc and pyruvate kinase M2 isoform, the key glycolytic enzyme transcriptionally activated by c-Myc. In addition, depletion of eEF-2K reduced the ability of the transformed cells to proliferate and enhanced the sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapy both in vitro and in vivo. These results, which uncover a role of the eEF-2K-mediated control of PP2A-A in tumor cell glycolysis, provide new insights into the regulation of the Warburg effect. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Oncogene Springer Journals

eEF-2 kinase is a critical regulator of Warburg effect through controlling PP2A-A synthesis

Download PDF
16 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/eef-2-kinase-is-a-critical-regulator-of-warburg-effect-through-G0M79DDzGf

References (58)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by Macmillan Publishers Limited
Subject
Medicine & Public Health; Medicine/Public Health, general; Internal Medicine; Cell Biology; Human Genetics; Oncology; Apoptosis
ISSN
0950-9232
eISSN
1476-5594
DOI
10.1038/onc.2016.166
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Cancer cells predominantly metabolize glucose by glycolysis to produce energy in order to meet their metabolic requirement, a phenomenon known as Warburg effect. Although Warburg effect is considered a peculiarity critical for survival and proliferation of cancer cells, the regulatory mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain incompletely understood. We report here that eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF-2K), a negative regulator of protein synthesis, has a critical role in promoting glycolysis in cancer cells. We showed that deficiency in eEF-2K significantly reduced the uptake of glucose and decreased the productions of lactate and adenosine triphosphate in tumor cells and in the Ras-transformed mouse embryonic fibroblasts. We further demonstrated that the promotive effect of eEF-2K on glycolysis resulted from the kinase-mediated restriction of synthesis of the protein phosphatase 2A-A (PP2A-A), a key factor that facilitates the ubiquitin–proteasomal degradation of c-Myc protein, as knockdown of eEF-2K expression led to a significant increase in PP2A-A protein synthesis and remarkable downregulation of c-Myc and pyruvate kinase M2 isoform, the key glycolytic enzyme transcriptionally activated by c-Myc. In addition, depletion of eEF-2K reduced the ability of the transformed cells to proliferate and enhanced the sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapy both in vitro and in vivo. These results, which uncover a role of the eEF-2K-mediated control of PP2A-A in tumor cell glycolysis, provide new insights into the regulation of the Warburg effect.

Journal

Oncogene – Springer Journals

Published: May 16, 2016

There are no references for this article.