Poster Presentation 31st Lorne Cancer Conference 2019

c-Myc and Metabolic Reprogramming in Liver Cancer (#366)

Talhah M Salmi 1 2 3 , Andrew G Cox 2 3 4
  1. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  3. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  4. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver cancer, originating from liver cells known as hepatocytes. Many cases of Hepatocelullar carcinoma involve the amplification and over expression of the oncogene c-Myc1. c-Myc is a transcription factor that plays a key role in many aspects of cancer including cellular growth and metabolism2. Metabolic reprogramming has recently emerged as a fundamental hallmark of cancer3. In line with this notion, recent studies have shown that c-Myc can regulate expression of genes associated with the de novo nucleotide biosynthesis and lipogenesis4. We hypothesize that the oncogene c-Myc reprograms lipid and nucleotide metabolism to fuel liver cancer. In this study, we took advantage of an inducible zebrafish model of liver cancer, in which c-Myc is overexpressed specifically in hepatocytes upon exposure to doxycycline (TO-Myc)5. Using this model, we demonstrate that c-Myc induces hepatomegaly in larvae and liver cancer in adults. In order to examine the impact of c-Myc on metabolism, we applied a metabolomics profiling strategy (GC-MS) on dissected liver tissue, and we found that c-Myc overexpression reprogrammed metabolism. Based on these findings, we used the TO-myc zebrafish as a drug discovery platform to screen potential metabolic interventions for efficacy in suppressing c‑Myc-driven hepatomegaly. Strikingly, we identified Mycophenolic acid, Simvastatin, Ezetimibe, and Orlistat as the compounds with the most profound effects in suppressing hepatomegaly driven by c-Myc. Together, our studies demonstrate the important role that metabolism plays in c-Myc driven liver growth and cancer. Furthermore, this work highlights the potential of using zebrafish models of liver cancer to identify therapeutic strategies that target the metabolic vulnerabilities of liver tumours.