Abstract
Altered energy metabolism (glucose, lipid, amino acid) is a hallmark of cancer growth that provides the theoretical basis for the development of metabolic therapies as cancer treatments. ATP is one of the major biochemical constituents of the tumor microenvironment. ATP promotes tumor progression or suppression depending on various factors, including concentration and tumor type. Here we evaluated the antitumor effect of extracellular ATP on melanoma and the potential underlying mechanisms. A subcutaneous tumor model in mice was used to investigate the antitumor effects of ATP. Major lymphocyte cell changes and intratumoral metabolic changes were assessed. Metabolomic analysis (1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) was performed on tumor samples. We measured the activities of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) and LDHB in the excised tumors and serum and found that ATP and its metabolites affected the proliferation of and LDHA activity in B16F10 cells, a murine melanoma cell line. In addition, treatment with ATP dose-dependently reduced tumor size in melanoma-bearing mice. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that the antitumor effect of ATP was not achieved through changes in T-cell or B-cell subsets. Metabolomics analysis revealed that ATP treatment simultaneously reduced multiple intratumoral metabolites related to energy metabolism as well as serum and tumor LDHA activities. Furthermore, both ATP and its metabolites significantly suppressed both tumor cell proliferation and LDHA activity in the melanoma cell line. Our results in vivo and in vitro indicate that exogenous ATP inhibits melanoma growth in association with altered intratumoral metabolism.