Positive feedback in Cav‐1‐ROS signalling in PSCs mediates metabolic coupling between PSCs and tumour cells

Caveolin‐1 (Cav‐1) is the principal structural component of caveolae, and its dysregulation occurs in cancer. However, the role of Cav‐1 in pancreatic cancer (PDAC) tumorigenesis and metabolism is largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of pancreatic stellate cell (PSC) Cav‐1 on PDAC metabolism and aggression. We found that Cav‐1 is expressed at low levels in PDAC stroma and that the loss of stromal Cav‐1 is associated with poor survival. In PSCs, knockdown of Cav‐1 promoted the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), while ROS production further reduced the expression of Cav‐1. Positive feedback occurs in Cav‐1‐ROS signalling in PSCs, which promotes PDAC growth and induces stroma‐tumour metabolic coupling in PDAC. In PSCs, positive feedback in Cav‐1‐ROS signalling induced a shift in energy metabolism to glycolysis, with up‐regulated expression of glycolytic enzymes (hexokinase 2 (HK‐2), 6‐phosphofructokinase (PFKP) and pyruvate kinase isozyme type M2 (PKM2)) and transporter (Glut1) expression and down‐regulated expression of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) enzymes (translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20 (TOMM20) and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase [quinone] 1 (NQO1)). These events resulted in high levels of glycolysis products such as lactate, which was secreted by up‐regulated monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) in PSCs. Simultaneously, PDAC cells took up these glycolysis products (lactate) through up‐regulated MCT1 to undergo OXPHOS, with down‐regulated expression of glycolytic enzymes (HK‐2, PFKP and PKM2) and up‐regulated expression of OXPHOS enzymes (TOMM20 and NQO1). Interrupting the metabolic coupling between the stroma and tumour cells may be an effective method for tumour therapy.