IMR Press / FBL / Volume 29 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2902083
Open Access Original Research
Metabolic Landscape of Osteosarcoma: Reprogramming of Lactic Acid Metabolism and Metabolic Communication
Linbang Wang1,2,3,†Xinyu Dou1,2,3,†Linzhen Xie4Xuchang Zhou5Yu Liu1,2,3Jingkun Liu6,*Xiaoguang Liu1,2,3,*
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1 Department of Orthopedics, Peking University Third Hospital, 100191 Beijing, China
2 Beijing Key Laboratory of Spinal Disease Research, 100191 Beijing, China
3 Engineering Research Center of Bone and Joint Precision Medicine, Ministry of Education, 100191 Beijing, China
4 Peking University Fourth School of Clinical Medicine, 100035 Beijing, China
5 School of Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation, Beijing Sport University, 100084 Beijing, China
6 Department of Orthopedics, Honghui Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710054 Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
*Correspondence: heluxue68@hotmail.com (Jingkun Liu); xglius@163.com (Xiaoguang Liu)
These authors contributed equally.
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2024, 29(2), 83; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2902083
Submitted: 9 August 2023 | Revised: 30 September 2023 | Accepted: 12 October 2023 | Published: 22 February 2024
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Lactic acid, previously regarded only as an endpoint of glycolysis, has emerged as a major regulator of tumor invasion, growth, and the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we aimed to explore the reprogramming of lactic acid metabolism relevant to osteosarcoma (OS) microenvironment by decoding the underlying lactic acid metabolic landscape of OS cells and intercellular signaling alterations. Methods: The landscape of OS metabolism was evaluated using single-cell gene expression data, lactic acid metabolism clustering, and screening of the hub genes in lactic acid metabolism of OS samples using transcriptome data. The role of the hub gene NADH:Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase Complex Assembly Factor 6 (NDUFAF6) was validated with in vitro studies and patient experiments. Results: Single-cell RNA sequencing data validated a lactic acid metabolismhigh subcluster in OS. Further investigation of intercellular communications revealed a unique metabolic communication pattern between the lactic acid metabolismhigh subcluster and other subclusters. Next, two lactic acid metabolic reprogramming phenotypes were defined, and six lactic acid metabolism-related genes (LRGs), including the biomarker NDUFAF6, were screened in OS. In vitro studies and patient experiments confirmed that NDUFAF6 is a crucial lactic acid metabolism-associated gene in OS. Conclusions: The patterns of lactic acid metabolism in OS suggested metabolic reprogramming phenotypes relevant to the tumor microenvironment (TME) and identified NDUFAF6 as an LRG prognostic biomarker.

Keywords
metabolic reprogramming
osteosarcoma
lactic acid metabolism
metabolic communication
NDUFAF6
Funding
Z191100007619023/Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park
8197210/National Natural Science Foundation of China
82372451/National Natural Science Foundation of China
Figures
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