Malonyl-CoA Decarboxylase (MCD) as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Breast Cancer. Final Report April 10, 2006-April 9, 2010

摘要

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibition initiates selective apoptosis of cancer cells both in vivo and in vitro, which may involve malonyl-CoA metabolism. These findings led to exploration of malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD) as a potential novel target for cancer treatment. MCD regulates the levels of cellular malonyl-CoA through the decarboxylation of malonyl-CoA to acetyl-CoA. Malonyl-CoA is both a substrate for FAS and an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation acting as a metabolic switch between anabolic fatty acid synthesis and catabolic fatty acid oxidation. We now report that treatment of human breast cancer (MCF7) cells with MCD small interference RNA (siRNA) reduces MCD expression and activity, reduces ATP levels, and is cytotoxic to MCF7 cells, but not to human fibroblasts. In addition, we synthesized a smallmolecule inhibitor of MCD, 5-(Morpholine-4-carbonyl)- 4-(2,2,2-trifluoro-1- hydroxy-1-trifluorom ethyl-ethyl)-(phenyl) -(amino)-pentanoic acid methyl ester (MPA). Similar to MCD siRNA, MPA inhibits MCD activity in MCF7 cells, increases cellular malonyl-CoA levels and is cytotoxic to a number of human breast cancer cell lines in vitro. Taken together, thesedata indicate that MCDinduced cytotoxicity is likely mediated through malonyl-CoA metabolism. These findings support the hypothesis that MCD is a potential therapeutic target for cancer therapy.