Regulating Lipid Metabolism via Mitochondrial Dynamics in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cancer Stem Cells

Title:Regulating Lipid Metabolism via Mitochondrial Dynamics in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cancer Stem Cells

Volume: 19

Author(s): Fan Wu, Suling Chen, Siqi Ren, Ruixin Wang, Yongmei Tan, Rongxi Chen, Bowen Li, Haotian Cao and Jinsong Li*

Affiliation:

• Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou 510120, China
• Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China

Abstract: Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a sub-population of cancer cells present in many kinds of malignant tumors that have the potential for self-proliferation and differentiation. These cells have been demonstrated as the main cause of tumor recurrence and metastasis. Strong evidence indicates that CSCs prefer reprogrammed fatty acid β-oxidation over oxidative phosphorylation for sustaining energy supply. Although mitochondrial dynamics participate in the regulation of cancer stemness, the correlation between the inhibition of mitochondrial fission and the regulation of lipid metabolism in CSCs remains poorly understood.

Methods: The human tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) cell lines CAL27 and SAS were used to obtain the CSCs by 3D Spheroid Culture. Then,western blot methods, RT-PCR and flow cytometry analysis were used to identify the TSCC CSCs. Next, Immunofluorescence method, transmission electron microscopy detection and western blot methods were used to evaluate the mitochondrial morphology and the quantity of lipid droplets (LDs). Lastly, lipidomic analysis was applied to explored the lipidomic alterations of TSCC CSCs with different mitochondrial morphology.

Results: Here, we show that the quantity of lipid droplets containing intracellular triglyceride (TG) can be decreased by regulating mitochondrial morphology. Lipidomic analysis using ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) also compared alterations in lipid metabolites in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) CSCs, TSCC cells (non-CSCs), and CSCs with different mitochondrial morphology. Discriminant lipids of statistical significance were successfully annotated, including phosphatidylcholines (PCs), phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), sphingomyelins (SMs), triacylglycerols (TGs), phosphatidylglycerols (PGs), phosphatidylserines (PSs), lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs), and lysophosphatidylethanolamines (LPEs).

Conclusion: This study provides a deeper insight into the alterations of lipid metabolism associated with TSCC CSCs, non-CSCs and CSCs regulated by mitochondrial dynamics and thus serves as a guide toward novel targeted therapies.

Cite this article as:

Wu Fan, Chen Suling, Ren Siqi, Wang Ruixin, Tan Yongmei, Chen Rongxi, Li Bowen, Cao Haotian and Li Jinsong*, Regulating Lipid Metabolism via Mitochondrial Dynamics in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cancer Stem Cells, Recent Patents on Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery 2024; 19 () . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0115748928275772231226063458