Project 3: The AMPK Autophagy Pathway as a Metabolic Liability in Pancratic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

项目摘要-项目3：自噬 胰腺导管腺癌(PDA)是最致命的癌症之一，几乎没有有效的治疗方法。 目前治疗效果不佳的部分原因是肿瘤和间质的代谢适应。 隔室，如通过增加自噬的蛋白质和细胞器的循环。作为…的标志 自噬在限制性肿瘤微环境(TME)中提供了一个关键的营养来源。 越来越多的证据还表明，自噬程序是抵抗众多 治疗，包括化疗、MEK抑制剂和免疫检查点抑制。基础研究 从Shaw研究小组解码了启动自噬的关键生化步骤，包括上游 AMPK的调节及其驱动自噬小体的ULK1和ULK2的下游激活 队形。Shaw研究小组的最新研究也表明，AMPK可以阻止 第二类高密度脂蛋白到细胞核。无视这些进展，AMPK在自噬控制和 表观遗传调控在胰腺癌中从未被研究过。此外，虽然自噬已经 作为胰腺癌的一个有吸引力的治疗靶点，将其转化为临床的努力 由于缺乏自噬特异性抑制物，只有氯喹等广泛的溶酶体促进剂 可供学习。为了弥补这一差距，该实验室开发了ULK1和ULK2的新型生物可用抑制剂， 仅有的三种针对自噬途径的可用药酶中的两种。这些抑制剂提供了关键的工具 在此基础上，剖析自噬对PDA生长的贡献，并形成一种新的方法 克服这种致命疾病的治疗耐药性。在这里，目标1中提出的实验将定义何时 在疾病进展过程中，AMPK信号和自噬的不同方面被激活 自体小鼠PDA KPC模型。与项目1合作，有条件地删除AMPK或其 下游指标ULK1/2和HDAC3将用于评估它们对代谢适应的贡献 推动肿瘤生长和表观遗传学变化，介导肿瘤细胞功能。此外，中国的贡献 支持PDA对化疗药物和靶向治疗耐药的AMPK通路组件将 被解剖了。在目标2中，典型和非典型自噬在非细胞自主性支持中的作用 胰腺肿瘤的生长将通过比较ULK1/2和ATG7的间质缺失来描述。此外, 实验将剖析成纤维细胞和髓系细胞内自噬的特定细胞要求。 在支持PDA治疗耐药方面。在Aim 3中，将使用Shaw实验室的新型生物可用ULK抑制剂 为了确定选择性抑制自噬如何通过重新编程的肿瘤和 基质细胞功能。ULK抑制剂在挽救自噬依赖的治疗耐药中的潜力 将探索化疗、MEK抑制剂和免疫检查点抑制。

PROJECT SUMMARY – Project 3: Autophagy Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is one of the deadliest forms of cancer with few effective therapies. The poor performance of current treatments is partly due to metabolic adaptations in both the tumor and stromal compartments, such as the recycling of proteins and organelles through increased autophagy. As a hallmark of PDA, autophagy provides a key source of nutrients in the restrictive tumor microenvironment (TME). Accumulating evidence also implicates the autophagy program as a critical mediator of resistance to numerous therapeutics, including chemotherapy, MEK inhibitors, and immune checkpoint inhibition. Foundational research from the Shaw group decoded key biochemical steps involved in the initiation of autophagy, including upstream regulation of AMPK and its downstream activation of ULK1 and ULK2, the kinases that drive autophagosome formation. More recent work from the Shaw group has also revealed that AMPK can block the translocation of Class II HDACs to the nucleus. Despites these advances, the specific roles of AMPK in autophagy control and epigenetic regulation have never been investigated in pancreatic cancer. Moreover, while autophagy has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer, efforts to translate this to the clinic have been hindered by a lack of autophagy-specific inhibitors, with only broad lysosomotropic agents like chloroquine available for study. To address this gap, the lab has developed novel, bioavailable inhibitors of ULK1 and ULK2, two of only three druggable enzymes specific to the autophagy pathway. These inhibitors provide critical tools with which to dissect the contributions of autophagy to PDA growth and form the basis for a new approach for overcoming therapeutic resistance in this deadly disease. Here, experiments proposed in Aim 1 will define when and where different facets of AMPK signaling and autophagy are activated during disease progression in the autochthonous mouse KPC model of PDA. In collaboration with Project 1, conditional deletions of AMPK or its downstream targets ULK1/2 and HDAC3 will be used to evaluate their contribution to metabolic adaptations driving tumor growth and epigenetic changes mediating tumor cellular functions. In addition, the contribution of AMPK pathway components in supporting PDA resistance to chemotherapeutics and targeted therapies will be dissected. In Aim 2, the roles of canonical and noncanonical autophagy in non-cell autonomous support of pancreatic tumor growth will be delineated by comparing stromal deletion of ULK1/2 and ATG7. In addition, experiments will dissect cell-specific requirements for autophagy within the fibroblast and myeloid compartments in supporting PDA therapeutic resistance. In Aim 3, the Shaw lab’s novel, bioavailable ULK inhibitor will be used to determine how selective inhibition of autophagy impacts PDA growth through reprogrammed tumor and stromal cell function. The potential of ULK inhibitors in rescuing autophagy-dependent therapeutic resistance to chemotherapies, MEK inhibitors, and immune checkpoint inhibition will be explored.