Adipocytes Promote Breast Cancer Cell Survival and Migration through Autophagy Activation

Dorine Bellanger (1) , Cléa Dziagwa (1) , Cyrille Guimaraes (1) , Michelle Pinault (1) , Jean-François Dumas (1) , Lucie Brisson (1)

1 N2Cox - Niche, Nutrition, Cancer et métabolisme oxydatif

White adipose tissue interacts closely with breast cancers through the secretion of soluble factors such as cytokines, growth factors or fatty acids. However, the molecular mechanisms of these interactions and their roles in cancer progression remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the role of fatty acids in the cooperation between adipocytes and breast cancer cells using a co-culture model. We report that adipocytes increase autophagy in breast cancer cells through the acidification of lysosomes, leading to cancer cell survival in nutrient-deprived conditions and to cancer cell migration. Mechanistically, the disturbance of membrane phospholipid composition with a decrease in arachidonic acid content is responsible for autophagy activation in breast cancer cells induced by adipocytes. Therefore, autophagy might be a central cellular mechanism of white adipose tissue interactions with cancer cells and thus participate in cancer progression.

Mots clés: autophagy; breast cancer; cell communication; fatty acid

Domaines: Cancer; Biologie cellulaire

Dorine Bellanger, Cléa Dziagwa, Cyrille Guimaraes, Michelle Pinault, Jean-François Dumas, et al.. Adipocytes Promote Breast Cancer Cell Survival and Migration through Autophagy Activation. Cancers, 2021, 13 (15), pp.3917. ⟨10.3390/cancers13153917⟩. ⟨hal-03334390⟩