Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34675185›Full record

ArticleCell death & disease2021

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) regulates the mitochondrial priming of cancer cells.

Barbara Schroeder, Travis Vander Steen, Ingrid Espinoza, Chandra M Kurapaty Venkatapoorna, Zeng Hu, Fernando Martín Silva, Kevin Regan, Elisabet Cuyàs, X Wei Meng, Sara Verdura and 8 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell death & disease, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  11. Sabotaged Integral HSC Heterogeneity Underlies Essential Thrombocythemia Development.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
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  19. Mitochondrial metabolism and cancer therapeutic innovation.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025
    Review
  20. Article

10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

Barbara Schroeder *Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Travis Vander Steen *Division of Experimental Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Ingrid Espinoza *Department of Preventive Medicine, John D. Bower School of Population Health, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA.
Chandra M Kurapaty VenkatapoornaDivision of Experimental Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Zeng HuDivision of Experimental Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Fernando Martín SilvaInstitute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), 08028, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-3496-9093
Kevin ReganDepartment of Experimental Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Elisabet CuyàsGirona Biomedical Research Institute, 17190, Salt, Girona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-5353-440X
X Wei MengDeparment of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Sara VerduraGirona Biomedical Research Institute, 17190, Salt, Girona, Spain.
Aina ArbusàGirona Biomedical Research Institute, 17190, Salt, Girona, Spain.
Paula A SchneiderDeparment of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Karen S FlattenDeparment of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
George KembleSagimet Biosciences (formerly 3-V Biosciences), San Mateo, CA, 94402, USA.
Joan MonteroInstitute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), 08028, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-9192-4836
Scott H KaufmannMayo Clinic Cancer Center, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4900-7145
Javier A MenendezDepartment of Experimental Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA. jmenendez@idibgi.org.ORCID 0000-0001-8733-4561
Ruth LupuDivision of Experimental Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA. lupu.ruth@mayo.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-5564-3172
Mayo Clinic · USInstitut Català d'Oncologia · ESMayo Clinic in Arizona · USInstitute for Bioengineering of Catalonia · ESInstitut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Girona · ESUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center · US

Funding

Fatty Acid Synthase:Molecular Target for Breast Cancer Therapy & ChemopreventionR01CA116623 · NCI · NORTHSHORE UNIV HEALTHSYSTEM RES INST · PI LUPU, RUTH · 2005 to 2014
$3.4M
Anticancer drug-induced BH3-only protein.Bak interactionsR01CA166741 · NCI · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · PI KAUFMANN, SCOTT H · 2012 to 2016
$1.6M
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) RYC-2015-18357Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness | Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación) PID2019-10455GB-I00Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness | Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Institute of Health Carlos III) CP20/00003NCI NIH HHS R01 CA116623NCI NIH HHS R01 CA166741U.S. Department of Defense (United States Department of Defense) BC151072U.S. Department of Defense (United States Department of Defense) BC151072P1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Inhibitors of the lipogenic enzyme fatty acid synthase (FASN) have attracted much attention in the last decade as potential targeted cancer therapies. However, little is known about the molecular determinants of cancer cell sensitivity to FASN inhibitors (FASNis), which is a major roadblock to their therapeutic application. Here, we find that pharmacological starvation of endogenously produced FAs is a previously unrecognized metabolic stress that heightens mitochondrial apoptotic priming and favors cell death induction by BH3 mimetic inhibitors. Evaluation of the death decision circuits controlled by the BCL-2 family of proteins revealed that FASN inhibition is accompanied by the upregulation of the pro-death BH3-only proteins BIM, PUMA, and NOXA. Cell death triggered by FASN inhibition, which causally involves a palmitate/NADPH-related redox imbalance, is markedly diminished by concurrent loss of BIM or PUMA, suggesting that FASN activity controls cancer cell survival by fine-tuning the BH3 only proteins-dependent mitochondrial threshold for apoptosis. FASN inhibition results in a heightened mitochondrial apoptosis priming, shifting cells toward a primed-for-death state "addicted" to the anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2. Accordingly, co-administration of a FASNi synergistically augments the apoptosis-inducing activity of the dual BCL-X

Indexed as

AnimalsCell Line, TumorFatty Acid SynthasesFemaleHumansMiceMice, NudeMitochondriaNeoplasmsTransfectionFatty Acid Synthases

Identifiers

PMID34675185
PMCPMC8531299
OpenAlexW3205494899

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.