Autophagy and glycolysis are two catabolic processes that manipulate pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) development in response to hypoxia sensing, yet the underlying mechanism of how they are interlinked remain elusive./nMethods: The functional roles of Unc-51 like kinase 1 and 2 (ULK1/2) in pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) transcription and glycolysis under hypoxia were assessed by chromatin immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter, glucose consumption and lactate production assay. Co-immunoprecipitation, cellular ubiquitination, His-pulldown, in vitro protein kinase assay, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, CRISPR technology, in silico studies were adopted to determine the molecular mechanism. Correlation analyses were performed in KPC (Pdx1-Cre; LSL-Kras^G12D/+; Trp53^fl/+) mice and clinical samples from PDAC patients. Therapeutic potential of ULK1/2 inhibitor and 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) or 3-bromopyruvate (3-BP) was evaluated in cell-derived xenograft (CDX) and the patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of nude mice./nResults: ULK1/2, but not ULK3, augments hypoxic glycolysis in PDAC cells mediated by PKM2 independent of BCL2/adenovirus E1B 19 kDa interacting protein 3 (BNIP3). Mechanistically, hypoxia stimulates ULK1 to translocate into nucleus, where it interacts with and phosphorylates yes-associated protein (YAP) at Ser227, resulting in YAP stabilization through blockade of ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), which in turn facilitates PKM2 transcription, glycolysis, cell proliferation in vitro as well as PDAC growth in mice. ULK1/2 is positively correlated with YAP and PKM2 in tumor tissues from KPC mice and clinical samples from PDAC patients. Pharmacological deactivation of ULK1/2 potentiates the antineoplastic efficacy of 2-DG and 3-BP in CDX and PDX models./nConclusion: Our findings underscore the Ser227 autophosphorylation-dependent nuclear YAP stabilization as a central node that couples ULK1/2-initiated autophagy to hypoxic glycolysis during PDAC development and propose that targeting ULK1/2 combined with 2-DG or 3-BP might be a feasible therapeutic strategy against PDAC.

中文翻译：

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缺氧感应 ULK1/2 和 YAP 驱动的糖酵解之间的串扰促进胰腺导管腺癌的发展


自噬和糖酵解是响应缺氧感应而控制胰腺导管腺癌 (PDAC) 发展的两个分解代谢过程，但它们如何相互关联的潜在机制仍然难以捉摸。/n方法： Unc-51 的功能作用（如激酶 1 和 2）通过染色质免疫沉淀、荧光素酶报告基因、葡萄糖消耗和乳酸产生测定来评估缺氧下丙酮酸激酶 M2 (PKM2) 转录和糖酵解中的 (ULK1/2)。采用免疫共沉淀、细胞泛素化、His-pulldown、体外蛋白激酶测定、免疫荧光、免疫组织化学、CRISPR技术、计算机模拟研究来确定分子机制。在 KPC（ Pdx1 -Cre；LSL-Kras ^G12D/+ ；Trp53 ^fl/+ ）小鼠和 PDAC 患者的临床样本中进行相关分析。在细胞源性异种移植（CDX）和患者源性异种移植（PDX）裸鼠模型中评估了 ULK1/2 抑制剂和 2-脱氧葡萄糖 (2-DG) 或 3-溴丙酮酸 (3-BP) 的治疗潜力。结果： ULK1/2（而非 ULK3）增强 PDAC 细胞中由 PKM2 介导的缺氧糖酵解，不依赖于 BCL2/腺病毒 E1B 19 kDa 相互作用蛋白 3 (BNIP3)。从机制上讲，缺氧刺激 ULK1 易位到细胞核中，与 yes 相关蛋白 (YAP) Ser227 相互作用并磷酸化，通过阻断泛素蛋白酶体系统 (UPS) 导致 YAP 稳定，进而促进 PKM2 转录、糖酵解、体外细胞增殖以及小鼠 PDAC 生长。 KPC 小鼠肿瘤组织和 PDAC 患者临床样本中 ULK1/2 与 YAP 和 PKM2 呈正相关。 ULK1/2 的药理失活增强了 2-DG 和 3-BP 在 CDX 和 PDX 模型中的抗肿瘤功效。/n结论：我们的研究结果强调了 Ser227 自磷酸化依赖性核 YAP 稳定作为耦合 ULK1/2 启动的中心节点PDAC 发育过程中自噬对缺氧糖酵解的影响，并提出靶向 ULK1/2 联合 2-DG 或 3-BP 可能是针对 PDAC 的可行治疗策略。