GSE138754
KP lung tumours
Glucose transporters are the first and rate-limiting step for cellular glucose usage, which is often exacerbated in tumour cells enabling their growth and proliferation. Although inhibiting glucose metabolism in lung tumours could become an efficient treatment strategy, whether and which glucose transporter(s) should be targeted remains unclear because of their possible functional redundancy, and because other nutrients or transporter-independent metabolic processes including autophagy and macropinocytosis can fuel tumour cell growth in certain contexts. Here we show that glucose transporter Glut1 gene deletion in tumour cells does not impact tumour initiation and only slightly delays progression in a genetically-engineered mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma. Using 13C-glucose tracing with correlated nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) and electron microscopy, we report the presence of multiple lamellar body-like organelles produced by tumour cells. Glucose-derived biomass accumulates in these organelles, and this accumulation is decreased in Glut1-deficient tumour cells. Ex vivo, tumour cell glycolysis is impaired in absence of Glut1 except in case of strong expression of another glucose transporter, Glut3. We show that Glut3 is dispensable for Glut1 wild-type tumour development. In contrast, their combined deletion diminishes tumour growth and prevents the appearance of big lesions. Our results demonstrate the requirement for two glucose transporters in lung adenocarcinoma; dual blockade could reach therapeutic responses not achieved by individual targeting. Overall design: Expression profile of KP lung tumours at 22 weeks and 5 days post-tumor initiation