The metabolic co-regulator PGC1α suppresses prostate cancer metastasis

Cellular transformation and cancer progression is accompanied by changes in the metabolic landscape. Master co-regulators of metabolism orchestrate the modulation of multiple metabolic pathways through transcriptional programs, and hence constitute a probabilistically parsimonious mechanism for general metabolic rewiring. Here we show that the transcriptional co-activator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1 alpha (PGC1 alpha) suppresses prostate cancer progression and metastasis. A metabolic co-regulator data mining analysis unveiled that PGC1 alpha is downregulated in prostate cancer and associated with disease progression. Using genetically engineered mouse models and xenografts, we demonstrated that PGC1 alpha opposes prostate cancer progression and metastasis. Mechanistically, the use of integrative metabolomics and transcriptomics revealed that PGC1 alpha activates an oestrogen-related receptor alpha (ERR alpha)-dependent transcriptional program to elicit a catabolic state and metastasis suppression. Importantly, a signature based on the PGC1 alpha-ERR alpha pathway exhibited prognostic potential in prostate cancer, thus uncovering the relevance of monitoring and manipulating this pathway for prostate cancer stratification and treatment.