Abstract 1208: Glutamine Modulates Cellular NAD+/NADH Homeostasis Thereby Regulating Cancer Metastasis, Drug Sensitivity in Cancer Cells

Glutamine can play a critical role in cellular growth in multiple cancers. Glutamine-addicted cancer cells are dependent on glutamine for viability, and their metabolism is reprogrammed for glutamine utilization through the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Recently, we uncovered a missing link between cancer invasiveness and glutamine dependence. Using isotope tracer and bioenergetic analysis, we found that low-invasive ovarian cancer (OVCA) cells are glutamine independent, whereas high-invasive OVCA cells are markedly glutamine dependent. Consistent with our findings, OVCA patients’ microarray data suggest that glutaminolysis correlates with poor survival. Notably, the ratio of gene expression associated with glutamine anabolism versus catabolism has emerged as a novel biomarker for patient prognosis. Significantly, we found that glutamine regulates the cellular NAD+/NADH homeostasis, which mediates cancer metastasis and progression. On the other hand, the overexpression of NAD+ biosynthesis pathway enhances glutamine9s entry into TCA cycle for cancer metastasis, as well as chemo-drug resistance. Our findings suggest that a combined approach of targeting high-invasive OVCA cells by blocking glutamine9s entry into the TCA cycle, along with targeting NAD+ biosynthesis pathway may lead to potential therapeutic approaches for treating OVCAs. Our insights will present a unique opportunity for overcoming the drug resistance limitation in clinical trials in ovarian cancers. Citation Format: Lifeng Yang, Abhinav Achreja, Tyler Moss, Joelle Baddour, Katherine Stilles, Lisa Chiba, Sun Hye Kim, Josh Morse, Juan Marini, Anil K. Sood, Prahlad T. Ram, Deepak Nagrath. Glutamine modulates cellular NAD+/NADH homeostasis thereby regulating cancer metastasis, drug sensitivity in cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1208. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1208