Malate–aspartate shuttle promotes l-lactate oxidation in mitochondria

Oya Altinok, Juan L. Poggio, David E. Stein, Wilbur B. Bowne, Adrian C. Shieh, Nathaniel W. Snyder, Zulfiya Orynbayeva

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Metabolism in cancer cells is rewired to generate sufficient energy equivalents and anabolic precursors to support high proliferative activity. Within the context of these competing drives aerobic glycolysis is inefficient for the cancer cellular energy economy. Therefore, many cancer types, including colon cancer, reprogram mitochondria-dependent processes to fulfill their elevated energy demands. Elevated glycolysis underlying the Warburg effect is an established signature of cancer metabolism. However, there are a growing number of studies that show that mitochondria remain highly oxidative under glycolytic conditions. We hypothesized that activities of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation are coordinated to maintain redox compartmentalization. We investigated the role of mitochondria-associated malate–aspartate and lactate shuttles in colon cancer cells as potential regulators that couple aerobic glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. We demonstrated that the malate–aspartate shuttle exerts control over NAD+/NADH homeostasis to maintain activity of mitochondrial lactate dehydrogenase and to enable aerobic oxidation of glycolytic l-lactate in mitochondria. The elevated glycolysis in cancer cells is proposed to be one of the mechanisms acquired to accelerate oxidative phosphorylation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2569-2581
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Cellular Physiology
Volume235
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • colon cancer
  • l-lactate
  • malate–aspartate shuttle
  • mLDH
  • OxPhos

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