Publication
MondoA Drives B-ALL Malignancy through Enhanced Adaptation to Metabolic Stress
Journal Paper/Review - Apr 28, 2021
Sipol Alexandra, Thiel Uwe, Görlach Agnes, Cario Gunnar, Brenner Dirk, Richter Günther, Grünewald Thomas G P, Rad Roland, Wolf Elmar, Ruland Jürgen, Sorensen Poul H, Schmäh Juliane, Petry Andreas, Hameister Erik, Xue Busheng, Hofstetter Julia, Barenboim Maxim, Öllinger Rupert, Jain Gaurav, Prexler Carolin, Rubio Rebeca Alba, Baldauf Michaela, Franchina Davide G, Burdach Stefan E G
Units
PubMed
Doi
Citation
Type
Journal
Publication Date
Issn Electronic
Brief description/objective
Cancer cells are in most instances characterized by rapid proliferation and uncontrolled cell division. Hence, they must adapt to proliferation-induced metabolic stress through intrinsic or acquired anti-metabolic stress responses to maintain homeostasis and survival. One mechanism to achieve this is to reprogram gene expression in a metabolism-dependent manner. MondoA (also known as MLXIP), a member of the MYC interactome, has been described as an example of such a metabolic sensor. However, the role of MondoA in malignancy is not fully understood and the underlying mechanism in metabolic responses remains elusive. By assessing patient data sets we found that MondoA overexpression is associated with a worse survival in pediatric common acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Using CRISPR/Cas9 and RNA interference approaches, we observed that MondoA depletion reduces transformational capacity of B-ALL cells in vitro and dramatically inhibits malignant potential in an in vivo mouse model. Interestingly, reduced expression of MondoA in patient data sets correlated with enrichment in metabolic pathways. The loss of MondoA correlated with increased tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity. Mechanistically, MondoA senses metabolic stress in B-ALL cells by restricting oxidative phosphorylation through reduced PDH activity. Glutamine starvation conditions greatly enhance this effect and highlight the inability to mitigate metabolic stress upon loss of MondoA in B-ALL. Our findings give a novel insight into the function of MondoA in pediatric B-ALL and support the notion that MondoA inhibition in this entity offers a therapeutic opportunity and should be further explored.