Mesothelial Cell HIF1α Expression Is Metabolically Downregulated by Metformin to Prevent Oncogenic Tumor-Stromal Crosstalk

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Peter C Hart
  • Hilary A Kenny
  • Niklas Grassl
  • Karen M Watters
  • Lacey M Litchfield
  • Fabian Coscia
  • Ivana Blaženović
  • Lisa Ploetzky
  • Oliver Fiehn
  • Mann, Matthias
  • Ernst Lengyel
  • Iris L Romero

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a pivotal role in cancer progression, and, in ovarian cancer (OvCa), the primary TME is the omentum. Here, we show that the diabetes drug metformin alters mesothelial cells in the omental microenvironment. Metformin interrupts bidirectional signaling between tumor and mesothelial cells by blocking OvCa cell TGF-β signaling and mesothelial cell production of CCL2 and IL-8. Inhibition of tumor-stromal crosstalk by metformin is caused by the reduced expression of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) enzyme succinyl CoA ligase (SUCLG2). Through repressing this TCA enzyme and its metabolite, succinate, metformin activated prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs), resulting in the degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) in mesothelial cells. Disruption of HIF1α-driven IL-8 signaling in mesothelial cells by metformin results in reduced OvCa invasion in an organotypic 3D model. These findings indicate that tumor-promoting signaling between mesothelial and OvCa cells in the TME can be targeted using metformin.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCell Reports
Volume29
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)4086-4098.e6
ISSN2211-1247
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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