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University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Atp-Citrate Lyase Links Cyclin E to Cellular Metabolism In Breast Cancer

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Cyclin E is altered or overexpressed in approximately one-third of tumors from patients with invasive breast cancer and is a powerful independent predictor for survival in women with stage I-III breast cancer. Full-length cyclin E (EL) is post-translationally cleaved into two low-molecular-weight isoforms, LMW-E (T1) and LMW-E (T2). LMW-E have been shown to exhibit greater binding affinity for cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) , cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs), p21 and p27, but are resistant to p21 and p27 inhibition. In addition, transgenic mice expressing LMW-E have increased mammary tumor development and metastasis compared to EL transgenic mice. Therefore, LMW-E are more aggressive in cell cycle abrogation and mammary tumor development. The LMW-E isoforms are tumor specific and accumulate in the cytoplasm due to lack of a nuclear localization sequence (NLS). Therefore, we hypothesized that aberrant localization of LMW-E isoforms leads to molecular events that ultimately contribute to LMW-E breast cancer tumorigenicity. To address this hypothesis, we used a retrovirus-based protein complementation assay (RePCA) to identify LMW-E (T1) protein-protein interactions in breast cancer. Using this methodology, we found ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) as a novel interacting protein of LMW-E (T1) in the cytoplasm. ACLY is a 125kDa homotetrameric enzyme that catalyzes cytoplasmic citrate to acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate in the <em>de novo</em> lipogenesis pathway. End products of this pathway consist of complex fatty acids that fuel membrane production of highly proliferating cells and lipid-based post-translational modifications that mediate protein-protein interactions. Additionally, we found that LMW-E upregulates ACLY enzymatic activity which leads to lipid droplet formation; thereby providing cells with essential building blocks to support growth. ACLY is also required for LMW-E mediated transformation, migration and invasion <em>in vitro</em>, as well as tumor growth <em>in vivo</em>. Taken together these data suggest a novel interplay between LMW-E and ACLY and how metabolic pathways and the cell cycle are linked in breast cancer tumorigenesis.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation (PhD)
Year dc:date.available
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Lucenay, Kim
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Khandan Keyomarsi, Ph.D.
  • Jill Schumacher, Ph.D.
  • Wei Zhang, Ph.D.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu:utgsbs_dissertations-1636

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Base URL
digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Lucenay, Kim. Atp-Citrate Lyase Links Cyclin E to Cellular Metabolism In Breast Cancer. Dissertation (PhD) thesis, 2015. https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/utgsbs_dissertations/594