Mild Glucose Starvation Induces KDM2A-Mediated H3K36me2 Demethylation through AMPK To Reduce rRNA Transcription and Cell Proliferation

Abstract

Environmental conditions control rRNA transcription. Previously, we found that serum and glucose deprivation induces KDM2A-mediated H3K36me2 demethylation in the rRNA gene (rDNA) promoter and reduces rRNA transcription in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. However, the molecular mechanism and biological significance are still unclear. In the present study, we found that glucose starvation alone induced the KDM2A-dependent reduction of rRNA transcription. The treatment of cells with 2-deoxy-d-glucose, an inhibitor of glycolysis, reduced rRNA transcription and H3K36me2 in the rDNA promoter, both of which were completely dependent on KDM2A in low concentrations of 2-deoxy-d-glucose, that is, mild starvation conditions. The mild starvation induced these KDM2A activities through AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) but did not affect another AMPK effector of rRNA transcription, TIF-IA. In the triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231, the mild starvation also reduced rRNA transcription in a KDM2A-dependent manner. We detected KDM2A in breast cancer tissues irrespective of their estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 status, including triple-negative cancer tissues. In both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, mild starvation reduced cell proliferation, and KDM2A knockdown suppressed the reduction of cell proliferation. These results suggest that under mild glucose starvation AMPK induces KDM2A-dependent reduction of rRNA transcription to control cell proliferation.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/MCB.00579-15.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was supported by grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research C, 21570204 and 23770209; Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists 23114721 and 25840011).

We thank Chihiro Kasahara and Shiori Yamada (Takasaki University of Health and Welfare) for technical assistance. We thank Kwesi Teye for reading the manuscript and helpful advice.