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Control of Cell Growth and Survival by Enzymes of the Fatty Acid Synthesis Pathway in HCT-116 Colon Cancer Cells

Authors' Affiliations: Departments of ¹ Cancer Biology and Therapeutics, ² Automated Lead Optimization, and ³ Oncology Pharmacology, Merck Research Laboratories, Boston, Massachusetts; and ⁴ Department of Metabolic Disorders, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey

Requests for reprints: Stefan Krauss, Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics, Merck Research Laboratories, 33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115. Phone: 617-992-2046; Fax: 617-992-2404; E-mail: stefan_krauss{at}merck.com.

Purpose: For many tumor cells, de novo lipogenesis is a requirement for growth and survival. A considerable body of work suggests that inhibition of this pathway may be a powerful approach to antineoplastic therapy. It has recently been shown that inhibition of various steps in the lipogenic pathway individually can induce apoptosis or loss of viability in tumor cells. However, it is not clear whether quantitative differences exist in the ability of lipogenic enzymes to control tumor cell survival. We present a systematic approach that allows for a direct comparison of the control of lipogenic pathway enzymes over tumor cell growth and apoptosis using different cancer cells.

Experimental Design: RNA interference-mediated, graded down-regulation of fatty acid synthase (FAS) pathway enzymes was employed in combination with measurements of lipogenesis, apoptosis, and cell growth.

Results: In applying RNA interference titrations to two lipogenic enzymes, acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and FAS, we show that ACC1 and FAS both significantly control cell growth and apoptosis in HCT-116 cells. These results also extend to PC-3 and A2780 cancer cells.

Conclusions: Control of tumor cell survival by different steps in de novo lipogenesis can be quantified. Because ACC1 and FAS both significantly control tumor cell growth and apoptosis, we propose that pharmacologic inhibitors of either enzyme might be useful agents in targeting cancer cells that critically rely on fatty acid synthesis. The experimental approach described here may be extended to other targets or disease-relevant pathways to identify steps suitable for therapeutic intervention.