Mutant GNAS drives pancreatic tumourigenesis by inducing PKA-mediated SIK suppression and reprogramming lipid metabolism

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Krushna C. Patra
  • Yasutaka Kato
  • Yusuke Mizukami
  • Sebastian Widholz
  • Myriam Boukhali
  • Iulia Revenco
  • Elizabeth A. Grossman
  • Fei Ji
  • Ruslan I. Sadreyev
  • Andrew S. Liss
  • Robert A. Screaton
  • Sakamoto, Kei
  • David P. Ryan
  • Mari Mino-Kenudson
  • Carlos Fernandez Del Castillo
  • Daniel K. Nomura
  • Wilhelm Haas
  • Nabeel Bardeesy

G protein α s (GNAS) mediates receptor-stimulated cAMP signalling, which integrates diverse environmental cues with intracellular responses. GNAS is mutationally activated in multiple tumour types, although its oncogenic mechanisms remain elusive. We explored this question in pancreatic tumourigenesis where concurrent GNAS and KRAS mutations characterize pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAs) arising from intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs). By developing genetically engineered mouse models, we show that Gnas R201C cooperates with Kras G12D to promote initiation of IPMN, which progress to invasive PDA following Tp53 loss. Mutant Gnas remains critical for tumour maintenance in vivo. This is driven by protein-kinase-A-mediated suppression of salt-inducible kinases (Sik1-3), associated with induction of lipid remodelling and fatty acid oxidation. Comparison of Kras-mutant pancreatic cancer cells with and without Gnas mutations reveals striking differences in the functions of this network. Thus, we uncover Gnas-driven oncogenic mechanisms, identify Siks as potent tumour suppressors, and demonstrate unanticipated metabolic heterogeneity among Kras-mutant pancreatic neoplasms.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Cell Biology
Volume20
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)811-822
Number of pages12
ISSN1465-7392
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2018
Externally publishedYes

ID: 238433487