Low grade gliomas (LGG) represent a third of all gliomas in adults. They occur in young patients, with a median age of 30, and have a greater than 80% risk of transformation to glioblastoma (GBM) over a 5-10 year period. There are currently no effective treatments for LGG and no chemotherapy that can prevent the transformation to GBM. Recently mutations have been identified in two isoforms of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1 in the cytosol or IDH2 in the mitochondria) in >70% of LGGs. Clinically, the presence of an IDH mutation has been shown to be associated with a better overall survival than IDH-WT tumors, when compared grade for grade, and also is associated with a longer time to transformation in LGGs when compared with tumors expressing only the wild type enzymes. Acquired somatically, IDH1 and 2 mutations are activating mutations in the enzyme binding site which leads to production of high levels of 2 hydroxyglutarate (2HG) from ?-ketoglutarate. The functional oncogenic and metabolic consequences of 2HG production have not yet been elucidated but identification of the mutant enzymes has focused intense interest on LGG metabolism and the possibility that alterations in metabolic pathways may underlie cellular transformation, tumor growth and/or transformation to high grade glioma. We have developed methods to study LGG cell metabolism in situ, taking advantage of the stable isotope, 13Carbon (13C). 13C-labeled glucose can be safely infused in patients undergoing surgical resection and then labeled tumor can be analyzed ex vivo by 13C-NMR to probe the metabolic pathways that are active in the cell. This method provides a direct assessment of the impact of an IDH mutation since both the IDH- mutant and IDH-WT tumors reside in the same microenvironment, are histological indistinguishable from each other, and have not been altered by treatment prior to resection. This is a unique experimental paradigm in patients that can be exploited to directly compare the effects of the mutant metabolic enzyme on the metabolic pathways that are important for tumor cell survival and proliferation. To compliment these in situ studies, we have developed a novel method to identify 2HG in IDH-mutated tumors in vivo using non-invasive proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in patients undergoing brain MR imaging for clinical follow up. When combined with molecular analysis of the tumors, these complimentary methods provide an excellent opportunity to greatly improve the understanding of the fundamental metabolic processes in the LGG cell and determine to what extent they are modulated by genotype.

Public Health Relevance

Low grade gliomas (LGG) are primary brain tumors that affect young adults and are uniformly fatal. We propose to combine 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of labeled rejected tumor tissue with non-invasive proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in patients to define the metabolic phenotype of LGGs. The overarching goal is to identify novel therapeutic targets for this disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA154843-03
Application #
8652190
Study Section
Tumor Cell Biology Study Section (TCB)
Program Officer
Henderson, Lori A
Project Start
2012-04-01
Project End
2017-03-31
Budget Start
2014-04-01
Budget End
2015-03-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$320,027
Indirect Cost
$118,752
Name
University of Texas Sw Medical Center Dallas
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771545
City
Dallas
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
75390
Pichumani, Kumar; Mashimo, Tomoyuki; Vemireddy, Vamsidhara et al. (2017) Measurement of 13 C turnover into glutamate and glutamine pools in brain tumor patients. FEBS Lett 591:3548-3554
Choi, Changho; Raisanen, Jack M; Ganji, Sandeep K et al. (2016) Prospective Longitudinal Analysis of 2-Hydroxyglutarate Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Identifies Broad Clinical Utility for the Management of Patients With IDH-Mutant Glioma. J Clin Oncol 34:4030-4039
Pichumani, Kumar; Mashimo, Tomoyuki; Vemireddy, Vamsidhara et al. (2016) Hepatic gluconeogenesis influences (13)C enrichment in lactate in human brain tumors during metabolism of [1,2-(13)C]acetate. Neurochem Int 97:133-6
Ganji, Sandeep K; Maher, Elizabeth A; Choi, Changho (2016) In vivo (1)H MRSI of glycine in brain tumors at 3T. Magn Reson Med 75:52-62
Pichumani, Kumar; Mashimo, Tomoyuki; Baek, Hyeon-Man et al. (2015) Conditions for (13)C NMR detection of 2-hydroxyglutarate in tissue extracts from isocitrate dehydrogenase-mutated gliomas. Anal Biochem 481:4-6
Choi, Changho; Ganji, Sandeep K; Madan, Akshay et al. (2014) In vivo detection of citrate in brain tumors by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T. Magn Reson Med 72:316-23
Mashimo, Tomoyuki; Pichumani, Kumar; Vemireddy, Vamsidhara et al. (2014) Acetate is a bioenergetic substrate for human glioblastoma and brain metastases. Cell 159:1603-14
Choi, Changho; Ganji, Sandeep; Hulsey, Keith et al. (2013) A comparative study of short- and long-TE ¹H MRS at 3 T for in vivo detection of 2-hydroxyglutarate in brain tumors. NMR Biomed 26:1242-50