Autophagy supports mitochondrial metabolism through the regulation of iron homeostasis in pancreatic cancer

Menée à l'aide de lignées cellulaires et de modèles murins de cancer du pancréas, cette étude met en évidence un mécanisme par lequel l'autophagie, en maintenant l'homéostasie ferrique, préserve la fonction mitochondriale et favorise la croissance tumorale

Résumé en anglais

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells maintain a high level of autophagy, allowing them to thrive in an austere microenvironment. However, the processes through which autophagy promotes PDAC growth and survival are still not fully understood. Here, we show that autophagy inhibition in PDAC alters mitochondrial function by losing succinate dehydrogenase complex iron sulfur subunit B expression by limiting the availability of the labile iron pool. PDAC uses autophagy to maintain iron homeostasis, while other tumor types assessed require macropinocytosis, with autophagy being dispensable. We observed that cancer-associated fibroblasts can provide bioavailable iron to PDAC cells, promoting resistance to autophagy ablation. To overcome this cross-talk, we used a low-iron diet and demonstrated that this augmented the response to autophagy inhibition therapy in PDAC-bearing mice. Our work highlights a critical link between autophagy, iron metabolism, and mitochondrial function that may have implications for PDAC progression. Autophagy supports PDAC growth by maintaining mitochondrial function through regulating iron metabolism.