Abstract 5729: ADCK1 inhibition alters cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in liver cancer cells

Abstract In 2020, there were over 830, 000 reported liver cancer deaths. Incidence rates of liver cancer have tripled, and death rates have doubled since the 1980s; giving this disease one of the highest mortality rates when compared to its incidence rate. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is derived from hepatocytes and is the main type of liver cancer in adults, accounting for 75-85% of all primary liver cancers. Current treatment options for HCC like radiation therapy and chemotherapy are imperfect and cause significant side effects. Tumorigenesis is dependent on an organism’s cellular metabolism. Metabolic reprogramming is a promising area of focus for cancer therapeutics. Cancer cells thrive in nutrient-deficient environments by hijacking and reprogramming the cells existing cellular metabolism. Metabolic reprogramming is driven by genetic alterations and environmental cues. AarF Domain Containing Kinase 1 (ADCK1) is a protein-coding gene that acts as a mitochondrial protein with putative kinase activity. The role of ADCK1 has not been well studied, particularly in liver cancer. Our group has sought to study how ADCK1 impacts the metabolism and cellular environment of HCC cells to help establish a more effective drug target. Bioinformatics performed by our lab report that ADCK1 was highly expressed in HCC tumor cells. The expression levels of ADCK1 were also correlated with a decrease in patient survival. ADCK1 knockout clones were generated; these knockout cells showed decreased proliferation and altered cell cycle progression. Proteomics analysis demonstrated that loss of ADCK1 was also seen to alter the expression of proteins involved in several cellular processes related to the cell cycle and cellular metabolism. How ADCK1 regulates these processes will be studied in the future. Citation Format: Noel A. Jacquet, Yunfeng Zhao. ADCK1 inhibition alters cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in liver cancer cells abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts) ; 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (6Suppl): Abstract nr 5729.