Cited by 108Cancer, Hypoxia, and MetabolismBiochemical Acid Research StudiesCancer, Lipids, and Metabolism

Tetrameric acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase 1 is important for tumor growth

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Fan, Jun, Lin, Ruiting, Xia, Siyuan, Chen, Dong, Elf, Shannon E., Liu, Shuangping, Pan, Yaozhu, Xu, Haidong +22 more·2016·Molecular Cell

Abstract

Mitochondrial acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase 1 (ACAT1) regulates pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) by acetylating pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and PDH phosphatase. How ACAT1 is "hijacked" to contribute to the Warburg effect in human cancer remains unclear. We found that active, tetrameric ACAT1 is commonly upregulated in cells stimulated by EGF and in diverse human cancer cells, where ACAT1 tetramers, but not monomers, are phosphorylated and stabilized by enhanced Y407 phosphorylation. Moreover, we identified arecoline hydrobromide (AH) as a covalent ACAT1 inhibitor that binds to and disrupts only ACAT1 tetramers. The resultant AH-bound ACAT1 monomers cannot reform tetramers. Inhibition of tetrameric ACAT1 by abolishing Y407 phosphorylation or AH treatment results in decreased ACAT1 activity, leading to increased PDC flux and oxidative phosphorylation with attenuated cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. These findings provide a mechanistic understanding of how oncogenic events signal through distinct acetyltransferases to regulate cancer metabolism and suggest ACAT1 as an anti-cancer target.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.molcel.2016.10.014

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  • ACAT1 inhibition is broadly applicable to various cancer types but not non-cancerous cells.

    “Notably, ACAT1 inhibition is broadly applicable to various cancer types but not non-cancerous cells [61].”

    From Acetylation: a new target for protein degradation in cancer (2025) · cites this paper as [61]

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Authors
Fan, J., Lin, R., Xia, S., Chen, D., Elf, S. E., Liu, S., Pan, Y., Xu, H., Qian, Z., Wang, M., Shan, C., Zhou, L., Lei, Q.-Y., Li, Y., Mao, H., Lee, B. H., Sudderth, J., DeBerardinis, R. J., Zhang, G., Owonikoko, T., Gaddh, M., Arellano, M. L., Khoury, H. J., Khuri, F. R., Kang, S., Doetsch, P. W., Lonial, S., Boggon, T. J., Curran, W. J., & Chen, J.
Affiliations
  • Emory University (US)
  • Fudan University (CN)
  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
  • Yale University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Fan, Jun
  • Chen, Jing
Venue
Molecular Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-12
Volume
64
Issue
5
Pages
859-874
ISSN
1097-2765 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2554694070
Cited by
106
References
34
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
FWCI
2.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecular Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • NIH (CA140515, CA183594, CA174786, CA175316, CA169937)
  • T.J. Martell Foundation
  • Winship Cancer Institute (IRG-14-188-01)
  • American Cancer Society
  • Winship Inverts
  • Emory University
  • Hematology Tissue Bank of Emory University School of Medicine
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Biochemical Acid Research Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Lipids, and Metabolism
Keywords
ACAT1, acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase, tetrameric protein, pyruvate dehydrogenase, Warburg effect, EGF signaling, arecoline hydrobromide, covalent inhibitors, cancer metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, tumor growth, tumor cell proliferation, protein acetylation
MeSH terms
Acetyl-CoA C-Acetyltransferase, Animals, Epidermal Growth Factor, Humans, Mice, Nude, Mitochondria, Neoplasms, Oligopeptides, Phosphorylation, Protein-Tyrosine Kinases, Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, NIH 3T3 Cells, Cell Line, Tumor, Cell Proliferation, Mice, Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1

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