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Podo F, Paris L, Cecchetti S, Spadaro F, Abalsamo L, Ramoni C, Ricci A, Pisanu ME, Sardanelli F, Canese R, Iorio E. Activation of Phosphatidylcholine-Specific Phospholipase C in Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Impact on MRS-Detected Choline Metabolic Profile and Perspectives for Targeted Therapy. Front Oncol 2016; 6:171. [PMID: 27532027 PMCID: PMC4969288 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2016.00171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Elucidation of molecular mechanisms underlying the aberrant phosphatidylcholine cycle in cancer cells plays in favor of the use of metabolic imaging in oncology and opens the way for designing new targeted therapies. The anomalous choline metabolic profile detected in cancer by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging provides molecular signatures of tumor progression and response to therapy. The increased level of intracellular phosphocholine (PCho) typically detected in cancer cells is mainly attributed to upregulation of choline kinase, responsible for choline phosphorylation in the biosynthetic Kennedy pathway, but can also be partly produced by activation of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC). This hydrolytic enzyme, known for implications in bacterial infection and in plant survival to hostile environmental conditions, is reported to be activated in mitogen- and oncogene-induced phosphatidylcholine cycles in mammalian cells, with effects on cell signaling, cell cycle regulation, and cell proliferation. Recent investigations showed that PC-PLC activation could account for 20–50% of the intracellular PCho production in ovarian and breast cancer cells of different subtypes. Enzyme activation was associated with PC-PLC protein overexpression and subcellular redistribution in these cancer cells compared with non-tumoral counterparts. Moreover, PC-PLC coimmunoprecipitated with the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) and EGFR in HER2-overexpressing breast and ovarian cancer cells, while pharmacological PC-PLC inhibition resulted into long-lasting HER2 downregulation, retarded receptor re-expression on plasma membrane and antiproliferative effects. This body of evidence points to PC-PLC as a potential target for newly designed therapies, whose effects can be preclinically and clinically monitored by metabolic imaging methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franca Podo
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Luisa Paris
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Serena Cecchetti
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Francesca Spadaro
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Laura Abalsamo
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Carlo Ramoni
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Alessandro Ricci
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Maria Elena Pisanu
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Francesco Sardanelli
- Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Research Hospital Policlinico San Donato , Milan , Italy
| | - Rossella Canese
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
| | - Egidio Iorio
- Molecular and Cellular Imaging Unit, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità , Rome , Italy
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Podo F, Canevari S, Canese R, Pisanu ME, Ricci A, Iorio E. MR evaluation of response to targeted treatment in cancer cells. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2011; 24:648-672. [PMID: 21387442 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.1658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2010] [Revised: 11/22/2010] [Accepted: 11/29/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The development of molecular technologies, together with progressive sophistication of molecular imaging methods, has allowed the further elucidation of the multiple mutations and dysregulatory effects of pathways leading to oncogenesis. Acting against these pathways by specifically targeted agents represents a major challenge for current research efforts in oncology. As conventional anatomically based pharmacological endpoints may be inadequate to monitor the tumor response to these targeted treatments, the identification and use of more appropriate, noninvasive pharmacodynamic biomarkers appear to be crucial to optimize the design, dosage and schedule of these novel therapeutic approaches. An aberrant choline phospholipid metabolism and enhanced flux of glucose derivatives through glycolysis, which sustain the redirection of mitochondrial ATP to glucose phosphorylation, are two major hallmarks of cancer cells. This review focuses on the changes detected in these pathways by MRS in response to targeted treatments. The progress and limitations of our present understanding of the mechanisms underlying MRS-detected phosphocholine accumulation in cancer cells are discussed in the light of gene and protein expression and the activation of different enzymes involved in phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis and catabolism. Examples of alterations induced in the MRS choline profile of cells exposed to different agents or to tumor environmental factors are presented. Current studies aimed at the identification in cancer cells of MRS-detected pharmacodynamic markers of therapies targeted against specific conditional or constitutive cell receptor stimulation are then reviewed. Finally, the perspectives of present efforts addressed to identify enzymes of the phosphatidylcholine cycle as possible novel targets for anticancer therapy are summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franca Podo
- Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
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Spadaro F, Ramoni C, Mezzanzanica D, Miotti S, Alberti P, Cecchetti S, Iorio E, Dolo V, Canevari S, Podo F. Phosphatidylcholine-Specific Phospholipase C Activation in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cells. Cancer Res 2008; 68:6541-9. [DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-07-6763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Brambilla R, Neary JT, Fumagalli M, Cottini L, Cattabeni F, Schiller PR, Abbracchio MP. P2Y receptors in brain astroglial cells: Identification of a gliotic P2Y receptor coupled to activation of a calcium-independent ras/ERK1/2 pathway. Drug Dev Res 2003. [DOI: 10.1002/ddr.10217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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