KAT2A Promotes the Succinylation of PKM2 to Inhibit its Activity and Accelerate Glycolysis of Gastric Cancer.

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the main causes of cancer-related death. Lysine acetyltransferases 2A (KAT2A) is a succinyltransferase that plays an essential role in cancer development. The pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a glycolysis rate-limiting enzyme that mediates the glycolysis of cancers. This study aimed to explore the effects and mechanism of KAT2A in GC progression. The effects of biological behaviors of GC cells were evaluated by MTT, colony formation and seahorse assays. The succinylation modification was assessed by immunoprecipitation (IP). The interaction between proteins were detected by Co-IP and immunofluorescence. A pyruvate kinase activity detection kit was used to evaluate the activity of PKM2. Western blot was performed to detect the expression and oligomerization of protein. Herein, we confirmed that KAT2A was highly expressed in GC tissues and was associated with a poor prognosis. Function studies showed that knockdown of KAT2A inhibited cell proliferation and glycolytic metabolism of GC. Mechanistically, KAT2A could directly interacted with PKM2 and KAT2A silencing inhibited the succinylation of PKM2 at K475 site. In addition, the succinylation of PKM2 altered its activity rather than its protein levels. Rescue experiments showed that KAT2A promoted GC cell growth, glycolysis, and tumor growth by promoting PKM2 K475 succinylation. Taken together, KAT2A promotes the succinylation of PKM2 at K475 to inhibit PKM2 activity, thus promotes the progression of GC. Therefore, targeting KATA2 and PKM2 may provide novel strategies for the treatment of GC.