Amino acid transport systems modulate human tumor cell growth and invasion: a working hypothesis

Amino acid transporters ASCT2 and LAT1 in cancer: partners in crime?

Relative to other neutral amino acid transporters, the expression levels of ASCT2 and LAT1, are coordinately elevated in a wide spectrum of primary human cancers, suggesting that they are frequently co-opted to support the "tumor metabolome". Each has recently been shown to play important roles in the growth and survival of cancer cell lines, making them potential targets for cancer therapy. The properties and putative relationship of these two amino acid exchangers are discussed in the context of their demonstrated utility in cancer biology, including cellular growth and survival signaling and integrated links to the mammalian target-of-rapamycin (mTOR) kinase.

Expression of L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) in esophageal carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

It has been reported that amino acid transport systems play an important role in cell proliferation. Their activity is increased in malignant cells compared to benign cells. In this study, we investigated whether L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) is expressed in human non-cancerous esophageal mucosa and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. We also examined whether LAT1 expression is correlated with histopathological features.

METHODS

From January 1999 to December 2001, sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 11 cases of early esophageal carcinoma (T1) and 19 cases of advanced esophageal carcinoma (T2, T3) were entered in the study. Histopathologically, all 30 cases were squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using rabbit anti-LAT1 IgG, with the standard avidin-streptavidin immuno-peroxidase method. Measurement was performed by means of computer-assisted image analysis. The ratio of cells with LAT1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and non-cancerous esophageal mucosa was used for analysis in this study.

RESULTS

Non-cancerous esophageal mucosa expressed LAT1 only in the basal layer of the esophageal wall. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma expressed LAT1 throughout the tumor. LAT1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was significantly higher than that in non-cancerous esophageal mucosa. LAT1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma increased as the depth of invasion progressed (T1 < T2 (P = 0.0477), T2 < T3 (P = 0.0415), T1 < T3 (P = 0.0044)), and as the tumor size increased. Also, high LAT1 expression was significantly associated with well-differentiated carcinoma.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that LAT1 plays a significant role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and invasion in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Expression of L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) and 4F2 heavy chain (4F2hc) in liver tumor lesions of rat models

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

It has been said that amino acid transporters play an important role in supplying nutrition to cells and for cell proliferation. In this study, we examined whether LAT1 and 4F2hc are closely related to tumor growth.

METHODS

Rat colon cancer cells (RCN-9) were injected into the spleen of 12 male rats (inbred F344/DuCrj). In each rat, liver samples including tumor lesions were immunostained with anti-LAT1 and anti-4F2hc antibodies. The staining area of LAT1 and 4F2hc tumor lesions was calculated by computer analysis.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight tumor nodules were observed in 12 livers. Out of the 68 tumor nodules, 36 nodules (52.9%) indicated a positive staining of LAT1 and 32 (47.1%) had a negative staining of LAT1. However, the LAT1 expression was scarcely detected in non-tumor areas. In terms of the 4F2hc expression, there were 56 nodules (82.4%) with 4F2hc positive and 12 (17.6) with 4F2hc negative. In addition, the expression of 4F2hc in non-tumor areas was almost the same as the expression of 4F2hc in tumor lesions. The average tumor size of the group with LAT1 positive and 4F2hc positive (n = 31) was 0.845 +/- 0.232 mm(2), which was significantly larger than that of the group with LAT1 negative and 4F2hc negative group (n = 7) (0.090 +/- 0.028 mm(2)) or the group with LAT1 positive and 4F2hc negative (n = 5) (0.097 +/- 0.025 mm(2)), respectively (P = 0.0017, P = 0.007).

CONCLUSION

LAT1 was related to tumor growth. We think that LAT1 can possibly enhance its ability to promote tumor growth in cooperation with 4F2hc.

The deubiquitinating enzyme Dot4p is involved in regulating nutrient uptake

In yeast, several membrane-bound nutrient transporters have been shown to be regulated by the covalent attachment of ubiquitin, a signal for internalization and degradation. The yeast gene DOT4 encodes one of a family of enzymes which remove ubiquitin from proteins to which the peptide has been attached. Mutations in DOT4 cause a growth defect that is particularly severe when combined with mutations in nutrient biosynthetic enzymes (1). These results suggest that nutrient transport or utilization may be compromised in dot4 mutants. We now report that preventing the down-regulation by endocytosis of membrane proteins partially suppressed the dot4Delta growth defect. We also show that the activity of the amino acid permease Gap1p is reduced in DOT4 mutants. This correlates with a reduction in Gap1 protein level, while GAP1 mRNA levels remains unchanged. We conclude that Dot4p is involved in posttranscriptionally regulating Gap1p, and possibly other transporters as well.

Tyrosine and phenylalanine restriction induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in murine melanoma in vitro and in vivo

Tyr-Phe and Met limitation in vitro inhibited cell proliferation and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression to a greater extent than serum limitation. Tyr-Phe and serum limitation arrested cells in the G0/G1 phase; Met limitation blocked cells in the G0/G1 and S phases. Tyr-Phe limitation progressively decreased cyclin D1 expression to 30% of control within four days and did not affect expression of cyclin D3 or cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK2, CDK4, and CDK5) expression, Met limitation decreased cyclin D3 expression to 25% of control and CDK2 expression to 32% of control by Day 4 and did not affect expression of cyclin D1, CDK4, and CDK5. Serum limitation inhibited cyclin D1 and cyclin D3 expression to 24% of control after four days and did not effect CDK expression. Expression of two CDK inhibitors, p21WAF1/Cip1 and p27Kip1, was not changed by amino acid or serum limitation. Dietary restriction of Tyr-Phe in mice bearing subcutaneous B16BL6 melanoma tumors decreased tumor growth rate compared with mice fed a normal diet. Tumors from Tyr-Phe-restricted mice exhibited decreased PCNA expression, G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest, and reduced cyclin D1 expression. These data indicate that decreased tumor growth in vivo associated with dietary restriction of Tyr and Phe is cell cycle specific.