Published in

MDPI, Metabolites, 8(13), p. 939, 2023

DOI: 10.3390/metabo13080939

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Nuclear PTEN Regulates Thymidylate Biosynthesis in Human Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

Journal article published in 2023 by Zoe N. Loh, Mu-En Wang ORCID, Changxin Wan, John M. Asara ORCID, Zhicheng Ji, Ming Chen ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

The phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) tumor suppressor governs a variety of biological processes, including metabolism, by acting on distinct molecular targets in different subcellular compartments. In the cytosol, inactive PTEN can be recruited to the plasma membrane where it dimerizes and functions as a lipid phosphatase to regulate metabolic processes mediated by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway. However, the metabolic regulation of PTEN in the nucleus remains undefined. Here, using a gain-of-function approach to targeting PTEN to the plasma membrane and nucleus, we show that nuclear PTEN contributes to pyrimidine metabolism, in particular de novo thymidylate (dTMP) biosynthesis. PTEN appears to regulate dTMP biosynthesis through interaction with methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 (MTHFD1), a key enzyme that generates 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate, a cofactor required for thymidylate synthase (TYMS) to catalyze deoxyuridylate (dUMP) into dTMP. Our findings reveal a nuclear function for PTEN in controlling dTMP biosynthesis and may also have implications for targeting nuclear-excluded PTEN prostate cancer cells with antifolate drugs.