Title: “Lipid droplet storage and metabolism in pancreatic cancer metastasis”
Abstract: Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer death, yet therapeutic strategies to inhibit metastatic invasion do not exist. Metastasis is particularly complex as it combines sophisticated cellular mechanisms that provide energy to support the actions of stromal remodeling and invasive migration. Our group uses cell biology and biochemistry approaches to investigate the mechanisms of metastasis in pancreatic cancer, including signaling through small GTPases to regulate actin cytoskeletal dynamics leading to tumor cell invasion.
While tumor cells are known to undergo metabolic reprogramming to support tumor growth, the metabolic drivers of metastasis, and the mechanisms linking nutrient status to invasive dissemination, are poorly defined. Our data indicate that the metabolic pathways used by tumor cells during invasive migration are fundamentally different from steady state tumor growth, specifically with regard to the storage and use of neutral lipids. While tumor cells accumulate and store lipids to promote tumor growth, our data indicate these stored lipids undergo catabolism by lipases to induce a transient switch to oxidative metabolism to fuel invasion. Ongoing research in our group investigates the mechanisms regulating lipid storage and catabolism, and how this is coordinated with tumor cell invasion.
Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 12:45 pm. Join by Zoom.
Hosted by Drs. Elizabeth Rideout and Mark Cembrowski