Research progress on FASN and MGLL in the regulation of abnormal lipid metabolism and the relationship between tumor invasion and metastasis

Abstract

Tumorigenesis involves metabolic reprogramming and abnormal lipid metabolism, which is manifested by increased endogenous fat mobilization, hypertriglyceridemia, and increased fatty acid synthesis. Fatty acid synthase (FASN) is a key enzyme for the de novo synthesis of fatty acids, and monoacylglycerol esterase (MGLL) is an important metabolic enzyme that converts triglycerides into free fatty acids. Both enzymes play an important role in lipid metabolism and are associated with tumor-related signaling pathways, the most common of which is the PI3K–AKT signaling pathway. They can also regulate the immune microenvironment, participate in epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and then regulate tumor invasion and metastasis. Current literature have shown that these two genes are abnormally expressed in many types of tumors and are highly correlated with tumor migration and invasion. This article introduces the structures and functions of FASN and MGLL, their relationship with abnormal lipid metabolism, and the mechanism of the regulation of tumor invasion and metastasis and reviews the research progress of the relationship of FASN and MGLL with tumor invasion and metastasis.

Keywords

FASN / MGLL / lipid metabolism / tumor invasion / metastasis

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81672637 and 81872164).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Jingyue Zhang, Yawen Song, Qianqian Shi, and Li Fu declare that they have no conflict of interest. This manuscript is a review article and does not involve a research protocol that require the approval of relevant institutional review board or ethics committee.

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