Prostate metabolism is unique, characterised by cholesterol accumulation and reduced respiration.
Are these related? We modulated cholesterol levels and despite changes in mitochondrial cholesterol content, we saw no effects on lactate production or respiration. Instead, these features may be related via sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2), the master transcriptional regulator of cholesterol synthesis. SREBP-2 diverts acetyl-CoA into cholesterol synthesis and may thus reduce respiration. We examined LNCaP cells overexpressing the SREBP-2 regulator, Scap: although having higher SREBP-2 activity, these cells displayed higher respiration. This striking observation warrants further investigation. Given that SREBP-2 and Scap are regulated by factors driving prostate growth, exploring this observation further could shed light on prostate carcinogenesis.
Written by:
Prabhu AV, Krycer JR, Brown AJ. Are you the author?
School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
Reference: FEBS Lett. 2013 Apr 2;587(7):983-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2013.02.040
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23454642
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