Targeting lactate dehydrogenase-A inhibits tumorigenesis and tumor progression in mouse models of lung cancer and impacts tumor-initiating cells

Han Xie, Jun Ichi Hanai, Jian Guo Ren, Lev Kats, Kerri Burgess, Parul Bhargava, Sabina Signoretti, Julia Billiard, Kevin J. Duffy, Aaron Grant, Xiaoen Wang, Pawel K. Lorkiewicz, Sabrina Schatzman, Michael Bousamra, Andrew N. Lane, Richard M. Higashi, Teresa W.M. Fan, Pier Paolo Pandolfi, Vikas P. Sukhatme, Pankaj Seth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

402 Scopus citations

Abstract

The lactate dehydrogenase-A (LDH-A) enzyme catalyzes the interconversion of pyruvate and lactate, is upregulated in human cancers, and is associated with aggressive tumor outcomes. Here we use an inducible murine model and demonstrate that inactivation of LDH-A in mouse models of NSCLC driven by oncogenic K-RAS or EGFR leads to decreased tumorigenesis and disease regression in established tumors. We also show that abrogation of LDH-A results in reprogramming of pyruvate metabolism, with decreased lactic fermentation in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo. This was accompanied by reactivation of mitochondrial function in vitro, but not in vivo or ex vivo. Finally, using a specific small molecule LDH-A inhibitor, we demonstrated that LDH-A is essential for cancer-initiating cell survival and proliferation. Thus, LDH-A can be a viable therapeutic target for NSCLC, including cancer stem cell-dependent drug-resistant tumors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)795-809
Number of pages15
JournalCell Metabolism
Volume19
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 6 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by Department of Defense award PC094151 (to P.S.), grants for target award 2012-01-0602 (to P.S.), NIH grants 5R01CA152330 and 1R01GM098453 (to P.S.), 1P01CA163223-01A1 (to A.N.L. and T.W.M.F.), 1U24DK097215-01A1 (to R.M.H., T.W.M.F., and A.N.L.), administrative supplement RM-11-024 (to P.S. and T.W.M.F.), R21EB01447 (to A.G.), and startup funds from the Department of Medicine, BIDMC (to P.S.). We would like to thank H. Varmus for providing the K-RAS animals, K. Wong for the EGFR-T790M mice, and J. Tan and R. Balasubramaniam for processing the mouse and human tissue slice samples for SIRM analysis. J.B. and K.J.D. are emplyoees of GlaxoSmithKline.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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