A novel fatty acid-binding protein 5-estrogen-related receptor α signaling pathway promotes cell growth and energy metabolism in prostate cancer cells

Epidermal or cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein is an intracellular lipid-binding protein, also known as FABP5, and its expression level is closely related to cancer cell proliferation and metastatic activities in various types of carcinoma. However, the molecular mechanisms of FABP5 in cancer cell proliferation and its other functions have remained unclear. In the present study, we have clearly revealed that FABP5 activated expression of metabolic genes (ATP5B, LCHAD, ACO2, FH and MFN2) via a novel signaling pathway in an ERRα (estrogen-related receptor α)-dependent manner in prostate cancer cell lines. To clarify the novel function of FABP5, we examined the activation mechanisms of the ERRα target genes via FABP5. A direct protein-protein interaction between FABP5 and ERRα was demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays. We have clearly revealed that FABP5 interacted directly with transcriptional complex containing ERRα and its co-activator PGC-1β to increase expression of the ERRα target genes. In addition, we have shown that FABP5 knockdown induced high energy stress leading to induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via AMPK-FOXO3A signaling pathway in prostate cancer cells, suggesting that FABP5 plays an important role in cellular energy status directing metabolic adaptation to support cellular proliferation and survival.