Driving with Both Feet: Supplementing AKG While Inhibiting BCAT1 Leads to Synthetic Lethality in GBM

Understanding how carcinogenesis can expose cancers to synthetically lethal vulnerabilities has been an essential underpinning of development of modern anticancer therapeutics. Isocitrate dehydrogenase wild-type (IDHWT) glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which is known to have upregulated branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1 (BCAT1) expression, has not had treatments developed to the same extent as the IDH mutant counterpart, despite making up the majority of cases. In this issue, Zhang and colleagues utilize a metabolic screen to identify α-ketoglutarate (AKG) as a synthetically lethal treatment in conjunction with BCAT1 inhibition in IDHWT GBM. These treatments synergize in a multipronged approach that limits substrate catabolism and disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis through perturbing the balance of NAD+/NADH, leading to mTORC1 inhibition and a reduction of nucleotide biosynthesis. Based on these results, the authors propose combination treatment targeting branched chain amino acid catabolism as a potential option for patients with IDHWT GBM. See related article by Zhang et al., p. 2388.