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    • Modulating the ability of tumor cells

    2023-02-13

    Modulating the ability of tumor sitagliptin phosphate to detoxify ROS is a key mechanism by which cysteine metabolism affects tumor cell survival. One study observed hypermethylation of cysteine dioxygenase (CDO1) in 60% of tested breast cancer samples, leading to increased ROS detoxification and tumor cell survival. Levels of methylation increase with tumor stage, and correlate with poor prognosis since they are not observed in normal cells. Restoring functional levels of CDO1 decreases tumor cell growth and sensitizes cells to doxorubicin (Jeschke et al., 2013). Cysteine also appears to be involved in resistance to doxycycline and tamoxifen, thereby affecting antioxidant production. Doxycycline-resistant MCF-7 cells have elevated levels of cystathione-beta-synthase (CBS), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (BHMT), leading to increased transsulfuration of methionine and homocysteine to cysteine and decreased glutathione synthesis, rendering doxycycline-resistant cells more sensitive to oxidative stress (Ryu et al., 2011). By contrast, tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 cells exhibit increased usage of homocysteine for cysteine production, but this leads to increased production of glutathione and subsequent decreased sensitivity to oxidative stress. Tamoxifen-resistant cells are sensitive to inhibition of cysteine metabolism, whereas non-resistant MCF-7 cells remain viable (Ryu et al., 2013). Therefore, cysteine metabolism may be a potential target to re-sensitize breast cancer cells to therapies such doxycycline and tamoxifen, but a greater understanding of the mechanistic connections to cysteine metabolism and the opposing effects on antioxidant production is clearly required. While these studies indicate that cysteine metabolism is a promising target for breast cancer therapy, additional work is required to determine its roles in multiple molecular subtypes of breast cancer and its potential as a biomarker. The ability to affect the antioxidant capabilities of cancer cells by targeting cysteine metabolism is an obviously attractive proposition however, since modulation of cysteine is likely to be better tolerated by normal cells than is methionine restriction.
    Arginine and proline metabolism Arginine and proline are nonessential amino acids in humans, although arginine can become conditionally essential in pathophysiology (Morris, 2009). Arginine and proline are generated from glutamate, with arginine as a key member of the urea cycle (Fig. 1). Arginine metabolism intersects with many other metabolic pathways, including nitric oxide, creatine, urea, and polyamine metabolism (Fig. 1), which can promote tumor growth (Morris, 2009). Proline can also feed the TCA cycle through the urea cycle, and its oxidation by proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) leads to the formation of ROS (Phang et al., 2015). Increased levels of free arginine have been observed in many malignant breast tumors compared to benign tissues (Park et al., 1991), and many breast cancer patients have decreased plasma arginine (Vissers et al., 2005). Both observations suggest potential applications as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, though the mechanisms leading to these changes are presently unknown. Arginine can become conditionally essential in some tumors. Classic examples are arginine auxotrophic tumors such as malignant melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, prostate cancer, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which cannot synthesize arginine due to a lack of argininosuccinate synthase (ASS) (Delage et al., 2010; Ensor et al., 2002). Because of this, arginine depletion via conversion to citrulline by ADI-PEG20 is an effective treatment for these cancers (Qiu et al., 2015), though citrulline itself is a highly effective precursor of arginine in cells expressing ASS and arginosuccinate lyase (ASL) (Kaore et al., 2013). Certain breast cancer cell lines are arginine auxotrophs due to low levels of ASS, including MDA-MB-231 and ZR-75-1 (Qiu et al., 2014), and in a study of 55 breast tumor specimens, 5 were reported to not express ASS (Dillon et al., 2004). These arginine auxotrophs do respond to arginine deprivation via ADI-PEG20, which induces mitochondrial oxidative stress and autophagy (Qiu et al., 2014). While breast cancers that express higher levels of ASS do not respond to ADI-PEG20 alone (Ensor et al., 2002), sensitization by this compound to ionizing radiation via downregulation of c-Myc and upregulation of p21 has been reported (Park et al., 2008). This may therefore be a more general combination therapy strategy for breast cancer patients.