ZIP10 is a negative determinant for anti-tumor effect of mannose in thyroid cancer by activating phosphate mannose isomerase

BACKGROUND: Mannose, a natural hexose existing in daily food, has been demonstrated to preferentially inhibit the progression of tumors with low expression of phosphate mannose isomerase (PMI). However, its function in thyroid cancer still remains elusive. METHODS: MTT, colony formation and flow cytometry assays were performed to determine the response of thyroid cancer cells to mannose. Meanwhile, mouse models of subcutaneous xenograft and primary papillary thyroid cancer were established to determine in vivo anti-tumor activity of mannose. The underlying mechanism of mannose selectively killing thyroid cancer cells was clarified by a series of molecular and biochemical experiments. RESULTS: Our data demonstrated that mannose selectively suppressed the growth of thyroid cancer cells, and found that enzyme activity of PMI rather than its protein expression was negatively associated with the response of thyroid cancer cells to mannose. Besides, our data showed that zinc ion (Zn(2+)) chelator TPEN clearly increased the response of mannose-insensitive cells to mannose by inhibiting enzyme activity of PMI, while Zn(2+) supplement could effectively reverse this effect. Further studies found that the expression of zinc transport protein ZIP10, which transport Zn(2+) from extracellular area into cells, was negatively related to the response of thyroid cancer cells to mannose. Knocking down ZIP10 in mannose-insensitive cells significantly inhibited in vitro and in vivo growth of these cells by decreasing intracellular Zn(2+) concentration and enzyme activity of PMI. Moreover, ectopic expression of ZIP10 in mannose-sensitive cells decrease their cellular response to mannose. Mechanistically, mannose exerted its anti-tumor effect by inhibiting cellular glycolysis; however, this effect was highly dependent on expression status of ZIP10. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrate that mannose selectively kills thyroid cancer cells dependent on enzyme activity of PMI rather than its expression, and provide a mechanistic rationale for exploring clinical use of mannose in thyroid cancer therapy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-021-02195-z.