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Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1568-0266
ISSN (Online): 1873-4294

Review Article

SCAP/SREBPs are Central Players in Lipid Metabolism and Novel Metabolic Targets in Cancer Therapy

Author(s): Xiang Cheng, Jianying Li and Deliang Guo*

Volume 18, Issue 6, 2018

Page: [484 - 493] Pages: 10

DOI: 10.2174/1568026618666180523104541

Price: $65

Abstract

Lipid metabolism reprogramming emerges as a new hallmark of malignancies. Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), which are central players in lipid metabolism, are endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-bound transcription factors that control the expression of genes important for lipid synthesis and uptake. Their transcriptional activation requires binding to SREBP cleavageactivating protein (SCAP) to translocate their inactive precursors from the ER to the Golgi to undergo cleavage and subsequent nucleus translocation of their NH2-terminal forms. Recent studies have revealed that SREBPs are markedly upregulated in human cancers, providing the mechanistic link between lipid metabolism alterations and malignancies. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of SCAP or SREBPs significantly suppresses tumor growth in various cancer models, demonstrating that SCAP/SREBPs could serve as promising metabolic targets for cancer therapy. In this review, we will summarize recent progress in our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms regulating SCAP/SREBPs and lipid metabolism in malignancies, discuss new findings about SREBP trafficking, which requires SCAP N-glycosylation, and introduce a newly identified microRNA-29-mediated negative feedback regulation of the SCAP/SREBP pathway. Moreover, we will review recently developed inhibitors targeting the SCAP/SREBP pathway for cancer treatment.

Keywords: SCAP, SREBPs, Lipid metabolism, EGFR, miRNA-29, Metabolic targets.

Graphical Abstract

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