Cited by 1,002Cancer, Lipids, and MetabolismLipid metabolism and biosynthesisSphingolipid Metabolism and Signaling

Monoacylglycerol lipase regulates a fatty acid network that promotes cancer pathogenesis

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Nomura, Daniel K., Long, Jonathan Z., Niessen, Sherry, Hoover, Heather S., Ng, Shu-Wing, Cravatt, Benjamin F.·2010·Cell

Abstract

Tumor cells display progressive changes in metabolism that correlate with malignancy, including development of a lipogenic phenotype. How stored fats are liberated and remodeled to support cancer pathogenesis, however, remains unknown. Here, we show that the enzyme monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is highly expressed in aggressive human cancer cells and primary tumors, where it regulates a fatty acid network enriched in oncogenic signaling lipids that promotes migration, invasion, survival, and in vivo tumor growth. Overexpression of MAGL in nonaggressive cancer cells recapitulates this fatty acid network and increases their pathogenicity-phenotypes that are reversed by an MAGL inhibitor. Impairments in MAGL-dependent tumor growth are rescued by a high-fat diet, indicating that exogenous sources of fatty acids can contribute to malignancy in cancers lacking MAGL activity. Together, these findings reveal how cancer cells can co-opt a lipolytic enzyme to translate their lipogenic state into an array of protumorigenic signals. PAPERFLICK:

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2009.11.027

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  • Elevated expression of LPL and MAGL across diverse cancer subtypes correlates with invasiveness.

    “An elevated expression of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) across diverse cancer subtypes and correlates with invasiveness”

    From The emerging hallmarks of cancer metabolism (2016) · cites this paper as Nomura et al., 2010

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Authors
Nomura, D. K., Long, J. Z., Niessen, S., Hoover, H. S., Ng, S.-W., & Cravatt, B. F.
Affiliations
  • Scripps Research Institute (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Cravatt, Benjamin F.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-01
Volume
140
Issue
1
Pages
49-61
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2127624416
Cited by
1,002
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 40 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 55 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 78 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 69 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 75 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 70 · 2013: 61 · 2012: 47
FWCI
15.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA132630, CA-087660, R37CA087660, R01CA087660, CA132630)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Lipids, and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sphingolipid Metabolism and Signaling
Keywords
monoacylglycerol lipase, fatty acid metabolism, lipolysis, tumor cell migration and invasion, tumor growth, MAGL inhibitors, high-fat diet, cancer metabolism
MeSH terms
Animals, Cell Line, Fatty Acids, Female, Humans, Monoacylglycerol Lipases, Neoplasm Transplantation, Ovarian Neoplasms, Transplantation, Heterologous, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Monoglycerides, Mice

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