Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-8-2016

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It is the authors' final version prior to publication in Cancer Cell, Volume 30, Issue 2, August 2016, Pages 257-272.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2016.07.004. Copyright © Elsevier

Abstract

Hypoxia is a universal driver of aggressive tumor behavior, but the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. Using a phosphoproteomics screen, we now show that active Akt accumulates in the mitochondria during hypoxia and phosphorylates pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) on Thr346 to inactivate the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. In turn, this pathway switches tumor metabolism toward glycolysis, antagonizes apoptosis and autophagy, dampens oxidative stress, and maintains tumor cell proliferation in the face of severe hypoxia. Mitochondrial Akt-PDK1 signaling correlates with unfavorable prognostic markers and shorter survival in glioma patients and may provide an "actionable" therapeutic target in cancer.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

27505672

Language

English

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