- Scheiter, Alexander;
- Evert, Katja;
- Reibenspies, Lucas;
- Cigliano, Antonio;
- Annweiler, Katharina;
- Müller, Karolina;
- Pöhmerer, Laura‐Maria‐Giovanna;
- Xu, Hongwei;
- Cui, Guofei;
- Itzel, Timo;
- Materna‐Reichelt, Silvia;
- Coluccio, Andrea;
- Honarnejad, Kamran;
- Teufel, Andreas;
- Brochhausen, Christoph;
- Dombrowski, Frank;
- Chen, Xin;
- Evert, Matthias;
- Calvisi, Diego F;
- Utpatel, Kirsten
Aberrant activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mTOR and Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways is a hallmark of hepatocarcinogenesis. In a subset of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling dysregulation depends on phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) mutations, while RAS/MAPK activation is partly attributed to promoter methylation of the tumor suppressor Ras association domain-containing protein 1 (RASSF1A). To evaluate a possible cocarcinogenic effect of PIK3CA activation and RASSF1A knockout, plasmids expressing oncogenic forms of PIK3CA (E545K or H1047R mutants) were delivered to the liver of RASSF1A knockout and wild-type mice by hydrodynamic tail vein injection combined with sleeping beauty-mediated somatic integration. Transfection of either PIK3CA E545K or H1047R mutants sufficed to induce HCCs in mice irrespective of RASSF1A mutational background. The related tumors displayed a lipogenic phenotype with upregulation of fatty acid synthase and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1). Galectin-1, which was commonly upregulated in preneoplastic lesions and tumors, emerged as a regulator of SCD1. Co-inhibitory treatment with PIK3CA inhibitors and the galectin-1 inhibitor OTX008 resulted in synergistic cytotoxicity in human HCC cell lines, suggesting novel therapeutic venues.