Targeting PSAT1 to mitigate metastasis in tumors with p53-72Pro variant

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of p53, in particular the codon 72 variants, has recently been implicated as a critical regulator in tumor progression. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here we found that cancer cells carrying codon 72-Pro variant of p53 showed impaired metastatic potential upon serine supplementation. Proteome-wide mapping of p53-interacting proteins uncovered a specific interaction of the codon 72 proline variant (but not p53(72R)) with phosphoserine aminotransferase 1 (PSAT1). Interestingly, p53(72P)-PSAT1 interaction resulted in dissociation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) that otherwise bound to p53(72P), leading to subsequent nuclear translocation of PGC-1α and activation of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Depletion of PSAT1 restored p53(72P)-PGC-1α interaction and impeded the OXPHOS and TCA function, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and metastasis suppression. Notably, pharmacological targeting the PSAT1-p53(72P) interaction by aminooxyacetic acid (AOA) crippled the growth of liver cancer cells carrying the p53(72P) variant in both in vitro and patient-derived xenograft models. Moreover, AOA plus regorafenib, an FDA-proved drug for hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal cancer, achieved a better anti-tumor effect on tumors carrying the p53(72P) variant. Therefore, our findings identified a gain of function of the p53(72P) variant on mitochondrial function and provided a promising precision strategy to treat tumors vulnerable to p53(72P)-PSAT1 perturbation.