Metabolism is a critical regulator of cell fate determination. Recently, the significance of metabolic reprogramming in environmental adaptation during
tumorigenesis has attracted much attention in
cancer research. Recurrent mutations in the
isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 or 2 genes have been identified in several
cancers, including
intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Mutant IDHs convert α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) to
2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG), which affects the activity of multiple α-KG-dependent
dioxygenases including
histone lysine demethylases. Although mutant IDH can be detected even in the early stages of
neoplasia, how IDH mutations function as oncogenic drivers remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to address the biological effects of IDH1 mutation using intrahepatic biliary organoids (IBOs). We demonstrated that mutant IDH1 increased the formation of IBOs as well as accelerated
glucose metabolism. Gene expression analysis and ChIP results revealed the upregulation of platelet
isoform of
phosphofructokinase-1 (PFKP), which is a rate-limiting glycolytic
enzyme, through the alteration of
histone modification. Knockdown of the Pfkp gene alleviated the mutant IDH1-induced increase in IBO formation. Notably, the high expression of PFKP was observed more frequently in patients with IDH-mutant ICC compared to in those with wild-type IDH (p < 0.01, 80.9% vs. 42.5%, respectively). Furthermore, IBOs expressing mutant IDH1 survived the suppression of
ATP production caused by
growth factor depletion and matrix detachment by retaining high
ATP levels through 5'
adenosine monophosphate-activated
protein kinase (AMPK) activation. Our findings provide a systematic understanding as to how mutant IDH induces tumorigenic preconditioning by metabolic rewiring in intrahepatic cholangiocytes.