The glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose activates multiple prosurvival pathways through IGF1R

J Biol Chem. 2009 Aug 28;284(35):23225-33. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M109.005280. Epub 2009 Jul 1.

Abstract

Recent molecular studies indicate that aerobic glycolysis plays an important role in tumorigenesis and is a valid target for cancer therapy. Although 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) is well characterized as a glycolytic inhibitor, we recently discovered that it activates a prosurvival oncoprotein, AKT, through PI3K. In this study, we discovered that 2-DG treatments disrupted the binding between insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) so that the free form of IGF-1 could be released from the IGF-1.IGFBP3 complex to activate IGF-1 receptor (IGF1R) signaling. Because IGF1R signaling is involved, PI3K/AKT constitutes only one of the prosurvival pathways that are activated by 2-DG treatment; we validated that MEK-ERK signaling was also induced in an IGF1R-dependent manner in some cancer cell lines. Furthermore, our phospho-specific antibody microarray analysis indicated that 2-DG up-regulated the phosphorylation of 64 sites within various signaling pathways in H460 cells. Chemical inhibition of IGF1R reduced 57 of these up-regulations. These data suggest that 2-DG-induced activation of many survival pathways can be jointly attenuated through IGF1R inhibition. Our in vitro analysis demonstrated that treatment with a combination of subtoxic doses of 2-DG and the IGF1R inhibitor II reduced cancer cell proliferation 90% and promoted significant apoptosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Deoxyglucose / pharmacology*
  • Glycolysis / drug effects*
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Neoplasms / physiopathology
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / genetics
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects*

Substances

  • Deoxyglucose
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1