Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.

Cancer cells often rely on glycolysis to obtain energy and support anabolic growth. Several studies showed that glycolytic cells are susceptible to cell death when subjected to low glucose availability or to lack of glucose. However, some cancer cells, including glycolytic ones, can efficiently acqu...

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Main Authors: Roberta Palorini, Giuseppina Votta, Yuri Pirola, Humberto De Vitto, Sara De Palma, Cristina Airoldi, Michele Vasso, Francesca Ricciardiello, Pietro Paolo Lombardi, Claudia Cirulli, Raffaella Rizzi, Francesco Nicotra, Karsten Hiller, Cecilia Gelfi, Lilia Alberghina, Ferdinando Chiaradonna
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-03-01
Series:PLoS Genetics
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005931&type=printable
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author Roberta Palorini
Giuseppina Votta
Yuri Pirola
Humberto De Vitto
Sara De Palma
Cristina Airoldi
Michele Vasso
Francesca Ricciardiello
Pietro Paolo Lombardi
Claudia Cirulli
Raffaella Rizzi
Francesco Nicotra
Karsten Hiller
Cecilia Gelfi
Lilia Alberghina
Ferdinando Chiaradonna
author_facet Roberta Palorini
Giuseppina Votta
Yuri Pirola
Humberto De Vitto
Sara De Palma
Cristina Airoldi
Michele Vasso
Francesca Ricciardiello
Pietro Paolo Lombardi
Claudia Cirulli
Raffaella Rizzi
Francesco Nicotra
Karsten Hiller
Cecilia Gelfi
Lilia Alberghina
Ferdinando Chiaradonna
author_sort Roberta Palorini
collection DOAJ
description Cancer cells often rely on glycolysis to obtain energy and support anabolic growth. Several studies showed that glycolytic cells are susceptible to cell death when subjected to low glucose availability or to lack of glucose. However, some cancer cells, including glycolytic ones, can efficiently acquire higher tolerance to glucose depletion, leading to their survival and aggressiveness. Although increased resistance to glucose starvation has been shown to be a consequence of signaling pathways and compensatory metabolic routes activation, the full repertoire of the underlying molecular alterations remain elusive. Using omics and computational analyses, we found that cyclic adenosine monophosphate-Protein Kinase A (cAMP-PKA) axis activation is fundamental for cancer cell resistance to glucose starvation and anoikis. Notably, here we show that such a PKA-dependent survival is mediated by parallel activation of autophagy and glutamine utilization that in concert concur to attenuate the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and to sustain cell anabolism. Indeed, the inhibition of PKA-mediated autophagy or glutamine metabolism increased the level of cell death, suggesting that the induction of autophagy and metabolic rewiring by PKA is important for cancer cellular survival under glucose starvation. Importantly, both processes actively participate to cancer cell survival mediated by suspension-activated PKA as well. In addition we identify also a PKA/Src mechanism capable to protect cancer cells from anoikis. Our results reveal for the first time the role of the versatile PKA in cancer cells survival under chronic glucose starvation and anoikis and may be a novel potential target for cancer treatment.
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spelling doaj-art-1dffd9bb091d49a68263f73cbf38e7da2025-08-20T02:15:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042016-03-01123e100593110.1371/journal.pgen.1005931Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.Roberta PaloriniGiuseppina VottaYuri PirolaHumberto De VittoSara De PalmaCristina AiroldiMichele VassoFrancesca RicciardielloPietro Paolo LombardiClaudia CirulliRaffaella RizziFrancesco NicotraKarsten HillerCecilia GelfiLilia AlberghinaFerdinando ChiaradonnaCancer cells often rely on glycolysis to obtain energy and support anabolic growth. Several studies showed that glycolytic cells are susceptible to cell death when subjected to low glucose availability or to lack of glucose. However, some cancer cells, including glycolytic ones, can efficiently acquire higher tolerance to glucose depletion, leading to their survival and aggressiveness. Although increased resistance to glucose starvation has been shown to be a consequence of signaling pathways and compensatory metabolic routes activation, the full repertoire of the underlying molecular alterations remain elusive. Using omics and computational analyses, we found that cyclic adenosine monophosphate-Protein Kinase A (cAMP-PKA) axis activation is fundamental for cancer cell resistance to glucose starvation and anoikis. Notably, here we show that such a PKA-dependent survival is mediated by parallel activation of autophagy and glutamine utilization that in concert concur to attenuate the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and to sustain cell anabolism. Indeed, the inhibition of PKA-mediated autophagy or glutamine metabolism increased the level of cell death, suggesting that the induction of autophagy and metabolic rewiring by PKA is important for cancer cellular survival under glucose starvation. Importantly, both processes actively participate to cancer cell survival mediated by suspension-activated PKA as well. In addition we identify also a PKA/Src mechanism capable to protect cancer cells from anoikis. Our results reveal for the first time the role of the versatile PKA in cancer cells survival under chronic glucose starvation and anoikis and may be a novel potential target for cancer treatment.https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005931&type=printable
spellingShingle Roberta Palorini
Giuseppina Votta
Yuri Pirola
Humberto De Vitto
Sara De Palma
Cristina Airoldi
Michele Vasso
Francesca Ricciardiello
Pietro Paolo Lombardi
Claudia Cirulli
Raffaella Rizzi
Francesco Nicotra
Karsten Hiller
Cecilia Gelfi
Lilia Alberghina
Ferdinando Chiaradonna
Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.
PLoS Genetics
title Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.
title_full Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.
title_fullStr Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.
title_full_unstemmed Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.
title_short Protein Kinase A Activation Promotes Cancer Cell Resistance to Glucose Starvation and Anoikis.
title_sort protein kinase a activation promotes cancer cell resistance to glucose starvation and anoikis
url https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005931&type=printable
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