NF-κB controls energy homeostasis and metabolic adaptation by upregulating mitochondrial respiration

Cell proliferation is a metabolically demanding process(1,2). It requires active reprogramming of cellular bioenergetic pathways towards glucose metabolism to support anabolic growth(1,2). NF-kappa B/Rel transcription factors coordinate many of the signals that drive proliferation during immunity, inflammation and oncogenesis(3), but whether NF-kappa B regulates the metabolic reprogramming required for cell division during these processes is unknown. Here, we report that NF-kappa B organizes energy metabolism networks by controlling the balance between the utilization of glycolysis and mitochondria! respiration. NF-kappa B inhibition causes cellular reprogramming to aerobic glycolysis under basal conditions and induces necrosis on glucose starvation. The metabolic reorganization that results from NF-kappa B inhibition overcomes the requirement for tumour suppressor mutation in oncogenic transformation and impairs metabolic adaptation in cancer in vivo. This NF-kappa B-dependent metabolic pathway involves stimulation of oxidative phosphorylation through upregulation of mitochondrial synthesis of cytochrome c oxidase 2 (SCO2; ref. 4). Our findings identify NF-kappa B as a physiological regulator of mitochondrial respiration and establish a role for NF-kappa B in metabolic adaptation in normal cells and cancer.