Genome-Wide CRISPR/Cas9 Library Screening Revealed Dietary Restriction of Glutamine in Combination with Inhibition of Pyruvate Metabolism as Effective Liver Cancer Treatment

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most lethal cancer worldwide. Glutamine is an essential, extracellular nutrient which supports HCC growth. Dietary glutamine deficiency may be a potential therapeutic approach for HCC. HCC cells overcome metabolic challenges by rewiring their metabolic pathways for rapid adaptations. The efficiency of dietary glutamine deficiency as HCC treatment is examined and the adaptation machinery under glutamine depletion in HCC cells is unraveled. Using genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout library screening, this study identifies that pyruvate dehydrogenase alpha (PDHA), pyruvate dehydrogenase beta (PDHB), and pyruvate carboxylase (PC) in pyruvate metabolism are crucial to the adaptation of glutamine depletion in HCC cells. Knockout of either PDHA, PDHB or PC induced metabolic reprogramming of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, disrupts mitochondrial function, leading to the suppression of HCC cell proliferation under glutamine depletion. Surprisingly, dietary glutamine restriction improves therapeutic responses of HCC to PDH or PC inhibitor in mouse HCC models. Stable isotope carbon tracing confirms that PDH or PC inhibitors further disrupt the metabolic rewiring of the TCA cycle induced by dietary glutamine depletion in HCC. In summary, the results demonstrate that pyruvate metabolism acts as novel targetable metabolic vulnerabilities for HCC treatment in combination with a glutamine-deficient diet.

Automated summary

This study reveals that pyruvate metabolism plays a crucial role in the adaptation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells to glutamine depletion. Knockout of key enzymes, PDHA, PDHB, and PC, disrupts the metabolic rewiring of the TCA cycle and suppresses HCC cell proliferation under glutamine deficiency. Additionally, dietary glutamine restriction enhances the therapeutic response of HCC to PDH or PC inhibitors.