A more physiological approach to lipid metabolism alterations in cancer: CRC-like organoids assessment

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Silvia Cruz-Gil - , Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (Author)
  • Ruth Sanchez-Martinez - , Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (Author)
  • Sonia Wagner-Reguero - , Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (Author)
  • Daniel Stange - , Department of Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Sebastian Schoelch - , Heidelberg University , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Department of Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Partner Site Dresden (Author)
  • Kristin Pape - , Department of Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Ana Ramirez de Molina - , Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (Author)

Abstract

Precision medicine might be the response to the recent questioning of the use of metformin as an anticancer drug in colorectal cancer (CRC). Thus, in order to establish properly its benefits, metformin application needs to be assayed on the different progression stages of CRC. In this way, intestinal organoids imply a more physiological tool, representing a new therapeutic opportunity for CRC personalized treatment to assay tumor stage-dependent drugs. The previously reported lipid metabolism-related axis, Acyl-CoA synthetases/Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (ACSLs/SCD), stimulates colon cancer progression and metformin is able to rescue the invasive and migratory phenotype conferred to cancer cells upon this axis overexpression. Therefore, we checked ACSUSCD axis status, its regulatory miRNAs and the effect of metformin treatment in intestinal organoids with the most common acquired mutations in a sporadic CRC (CRC-like organoids) as a model for specific and personalized treatment. Despite ACSL4 expression is upregulated progressively in CRC-like organoids, metformin is able to downregulate its expression, especially in the first two stages (I, II). Besides, organoids are clearly more sensitive in the first stage (Apc mutated) to metformin than current chemotherapeutic drugs such as fluorouracil (5-FU). Metformin performs an independent "Warburg effect" blockade to cancer progression and is able to reduce crypt stem cell markers expression such as LGR5+. These results suggest a putative increased efficiency of the use of metformin in early stages of CRC than in advanced disease.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0219944
Number of pages18
JournalPloS one
Volume14
Issue number7
Publication statusPublished - 24 Jul 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 31339921
Scopus 85069849469

Keywords

Keywords

  • Stearoyl-coa desaturase-1, Fatty-acid-metabolism, Stem-cells, Colorectal-cancer, Self-renewal, In-vitro, Metformin, Models, Liver, Colon