Glutaminase C N-terminus phosphorylation decreases its enzymatic activity

The gene GLS generates the phosphate activated glutaminase C (GAC) isoform by alternative splicing. GAC, compared to the other isoform, kidney-type glutaminase (KGA), has been characterized as more active and particularly important for cancer cell growth. Very little is known about post-translational modifications regulating GAC function. Hereby we describe the identification of a phosphorylation on the serine 95, located at the GLS N-terminus, a domain shared by both isoforms. A GAC phosphomimetic mutant (S95D) ectopically expressed in breast cancer cells presented decreased enzymatic activity, and its expression impacted on cell’s glutamine uptake, glutamate release and intracellular glutamate levels (compared to expressing wild type GAC) without changing GAC sub-cellular localization. Curiously, replacing S95 by an alanine in the ectopically expressed GAC (S95A) increased cell proliferation and migration. Taken together, these results reveal that GAC is post-translationally regulated by phosphorylation, which impacts on cancer phenotype.