Abstract 990: Metabolic shift in cancer by re-programming of mitochondrial machinery: Novel insight into Warburg-dependent mechanism

Abstract

Abstract Otto Warburg described his seminal observation that cancer cells negotiated a switch towards anaerobic respiration from oxidative phosphorylation in return for sustained growth and evasion of normal cellular processes such as cell cycle control and apoptosis. The underlying mechanism that governs this phenomenon has yet to be firmly established. Given the centrality of mitochondria to apoptosis and bioenergetics, we proposed experiments that employed ubidecarenone as an intracellular energy ambassador wherein high-throughput genomic, metabolomic, and proteomic analyses were employed to capture the energetic and molecular signature of cancer cells. Analyses were performed on oncogenic breast, prostate, liver, pancreatic, skin (melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma) and were compared to normal fibroblasts, keratinocytes, hepatocytes, kidney, adipocytes, and human aortic and endothelial cells. The results suggested a hallmark discovery that clearly delineated a differential effect of cancer vs. normal cells under hyperglycemic, hypoxic, and lactate-stressed conditions. A decreased activation of the Pentose Phosphate Shunt was significantly downregulated in cancer cells suggestive of a shift towards utilization of oxygen and glycolysis while Bcl-2 dependent cell death mechanisms were restored. Most notably, cross-talk mechanisms related to p53 and Vegf in the cancer cells and tumor markers and pathology in animal models of melanoma and pancreatic cancer demonstrated efficacy in a topical and intravenous form of Cytotech Labs API 31510, a ubidecarenone based technology that targets the Bcl-2 protein family downstream of a cellular metabolic shift. Conversely, normal cells did not exhibit the aforementioned characteristic indicative of a cancer-specific mechanism. We propose a novel underlying mechanism for the Warburg Hypothesis and demonstrate that pre-clinical work on API 31510 in cancer suggest that it may be a viable agent for control of cancer metabolism and serve as safe, effective anti-cancer agent. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 990. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-990