title: Biochemical disorders induced by cytotoxic marine natural products in breast cancer cells as revealed by proton NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics.
abstract: Marine plants and animals are sources of a huge number of pharmacologically active compounds, some of which exhibit antineoplastic activity of clinical relevance. However the mechanism of action of marine natural products (MNPs) is poorly understood. In this study, proton NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics was applied to unravel biochemical disorders induced in human MCF7 breast cancer cells by 3 lead candidate anticancer MNPs: ascididemin (Asc), lamellarin-D (Lam-D), and kahalalide F (KF). Asc, Lam-D, and KF provoked a severe decrease in DNA content in MCF7 cells after 24-h treatment. Asc and Lam-D provoked apoptosis, whereas KF induced non-apoptotic cell death. Metabolite profiling revealed major biochemical disorders following treatment. The response of MCF7 tumor cells to Asc involved the accumulation of citrate (x17 the control level, P<0.001), testifying enzyme blockade in citrate metabolism, and the accumulation of gluconate (x9.8, P<0.005), a metabolite never reported at such concentration in tumor cells, probably testifying glycolysis shutdown. The response to Lam-D involved the accumulation of aspartate (x7.2, P<0.05), glutamate (x14.7, P<0.05), and lactate (x2.3, P<0.05), probably in relation with the targeting of the malate-aspartate shuttle, as discussed. The response to KF involved increased lipid accumulation (polyunsaturated fatty acids x9.8, P<0.05), and phospholipid and acetate derivative alterations. Altogether, this study demonstrates the potential of proton NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics to help uncover metabolic targets and elucidate the mechanism of cytotoxicity of candidate antineoplastic MNPs.
authors.affiliation: Université d'Auvergne, 28 place Henri Dunant, 63001 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bayet-Robert
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barthomeuf
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morvan
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D055432:Metabolomics; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins