The Influence of Met Receptor Level on HGF-Induced Glycolytic Reprogramming in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are known to overexpress a variety of receptor tyrosine kinases, such as the HGF receptor Met. Like other malignancies, there is a mutual interaction between the tumor cells and surrounding tissues and cells. We hypothesized that activation of HGF/Met signaling in HNSCC might influence glucose metabolism and therefore substantially changes the tumor microenvironment. To determine the effect of HGF, we used three established HNSCC cell lines and flow cytometry, western blot and RNA sequencing. Dynamic changes in glucose metabolism were measured real-time by an Extracellular flux analyzer. As expected, the cell lines exhibited different levels of Met and responded differently to HGF stimulation. As confirmed by RNA sequencing, the level of Met expression is associated with the number of upregulated HGF-dependent genes. Overall, Met stimulation by HGF leads to increased glycolysis, presumably mediated by higher expression of three key enzymes of glycolysis. These effects appear to be stronger in Methigh expressing HNSCC cells. Collectively our data supports the hypothesized role of HGF/Met signaling in metabolic reprogramming of HNSCC. 3 cell lines, of each one an untreated control and one sample treated with 50 ng/ml HGF for 48 hours, 3 replicates