# Decoding And Targeting The LKB1-AMPK Signaling Pathway In Cancer

> **NIH NIH R35** · SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES · 2020 · $1,164,000

## Abstract

Summary / Abstract
Research over the past decade has begun to reveal several direct linkages between genes mutated in
human cancer and genes that control cell metabolism. The LKB1 tumor suppressor is a serine/threonine
kinase mutationally inactivated in the familial cancer disease Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome, as well as in ~25%
of non-small cell lung cancers, making it the third most frequent gene altered in this cancer type, which is
responsible for the most deaths by cancer each year. Thirteen years ago, the Shaw lab and others
discovered that LKB1 directly phosphorylates the activation loop of the AMP-activated protein kinase
(AMPK) and 12 related kinases. AMPK is a serine/threonine kinase that is activated by LKB1 under
conditions of low cellular energy, such as those that accompany loss of nutrients, in particular glucose and
oxygen. AMPK plays a highly conserved role as an energy sensor and acts to restore metabolic
homeostasis on a cellular and ultimately organismal level by downregulating anabolic biosynthetic ATP-
consuming processes (like protein and lipid biosynthesis), and upregulating catabolic ATP-restoring
processes (like autophagy and fatty acid oxidation). Studies by the Shaw lab over the past decade have
sought to: 1) understand the mechanistic basis for how AMPK reprograms growth and metabolism by
decoding direct substrates of AMPK that mediate its downstream effects, and 2) identify new cancer therapy
approaches based on their understanding of the rate-limiting nodes of metabolism and growth that AMPK
endogenously utilizes under low energy conditions. The Shaw lab has used a number of genetically
engineered mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer to perform preclinical studies with novel cancer
metabolism drugs, and this grant builds upon their expertise accumulated over the past decade. Three lines
of research are proposed. First, advances in proteomics and genetic technologies will be used by the Shaw
lab to conduct phospho-proteome screens in primary tumors that are with or without intact LKB1 to identify
relevant targets required for tumor suppression in lung. These events will be rapidly modeled genetically in
cell lines and ultimately in murine cancer models using CRISPR. Second, based on their understanding of
how AMPK inhibits growth, the Shaw lab has explored the use of direct inhibitors of the lipogenesis enzyme
Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and found broad anti-cancer activity in genetic models of lung cancer. This
proposal seeks to examine whether other fatty acid synthesis enzymes may offer therapeutic windows in
lung cancer. Third, this proposal will explore the role of AMPK and its target the autophagy kinase ULK1 in
promoting tumor cell survival, particularly in the context of therapeutic response. Altogether, these studies
emphasize the need to gain a deep understanding of the molecular wiring of this signaling network and how
it interfaces with key cellular processes in order to reveal novel vulnerabilities that...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9972871
- **Project number:** 5R35CA220538-04
- **Recipient organization:** SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
- **Principal Investigator:** Reuben Shaw
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,164,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9972871

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9972871, Decoding And Targeting The LKB1-AMPK Signaling Pathway In Cancer (5R35CA220538-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9972871. Licensed CC0.

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