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Journal article

Adipocyte-like signature in ovarian cancer minimal residual disease identifies metabolic vulnerabilities of tumor initiating cells

Abstract:
Similar to tumor initiating cells (TICs), minimal residual disease (MRD) is capable of re-initiating tumors and causing recurrence. However, the molecular characteristics of solid tumor MRD cells and drivers of their survival have remained elusive. Here we performed dense multi-region transcriptomics analysis of paired biopsies from 17 ovarian cancer patients before and after chemotherapy. We reveal that while MRD cells share important molecular signatures with TICs, they are also characterized by an adipocyte-like gene expression signature and a portion of them had undergone epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In a cell culture MRD model, MRD-mimic cells show the same phenotype and are dependent on fatty acid oxidation for survival and resistance to cytotoxic agents. These findings identify EMT and FAO as attractive targets to eradicate MRD in ovarian cancer and make a compelling case for the further testing of FAO inhibitors in treating MRD.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1172/jci.insight.147929

Authors


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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Sub department:
H4 RDM CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCES; HE WOMEN’S & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-4780-3199
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
RDM
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-1688-6032
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-6121-8893
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-5475-9061


Publisher:
American Society for Clinical Investigation
Journal:
JCI Insight More from this journal
Volume:
6
Issue:
11
Article number:
e147929
Publication date:
2021-05-04
Acceptance date:
2021-04-29
DOI:
EISSN:
2379-3708


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1174269
Local pid:
pubs:1174269
Deposit date:
2021-05-05

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