Dissecting the Roles of Cancer Cell Lipid Metabolism in Tumor Progression and Immune Evasion

Author

Mariluz Soula

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

Lipids, along with nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and proteins, are essential biomolecules.These diverse hydrophobic metabolites are composed of fatty acids and include sterols, phospholipids, and glycerides. Lipids can be broken down to fuel energy demands, form the structural basis of all membranes, and can both act as signaling molecules themselves and regulate signaling by impacting membrane fluidity and receptor stability.Given the diverse and essential functions of lipids for normal cell function, it is no surprise that cancer cells leverage lipid metabolic pathways to fuel uncontrolled growth and proliferation and evade cell death. Indeed, enhanced lipid availability has been implicated in tumor initiation, growth,and metastasis,and metabolic genes involved in lipid uptake and synthesis are downstream of oncogenic alterations.Though excess lipids are known to correlate with disease progression, the precise enzymatic players required for cancer cell survival under distinct stressors have not been systematically studied. In this body of work, we designed and implemented loss of function CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screens to identify lipid metabolic dependencies in cancer cells growing under lipid peroxidation or immune pressure.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Rockefeller University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Recommended Citation

Soula, Mariluz, "Dissecting the Roles of Cancer Cell Lipid Metabolism in Tumor Progression and Immune Evasion" (2023). Student Theses and Dissertations. 783.
https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/student_theses_and_dissertations/783