Fig 4. Metformin inhibits de novo palmitate synthesis in cancer cells.

A–F. Palmitate biosynthesis in metformin-treated H1299 cells. Cells were cultured for 48 h with (+) or without (−) 5 mM metformin, followed by an additional 24 h of culture with U-[¹³C]-glucose or U-[¹³C]-glutamine. Relative lipogenic acetyl-CoA derived from labeled glucose (A) or labeled glutamine (D). U-[¹³C]-glucose-derived (B) or U-[¹³C]-glutamine-derived (E) palmitate was determined by GC-MS. Data are normalized to cell numbers. C, F. Mass isotopomer distribution of U-[¹³C]-glucose-derived (C) or U-[¹³C]-glutamine-derived (F) palmitate. G. Proliferation of H1299 NSCLC cells expressing control (CTL) or ATP citrate lyase (ACL)-specific siRNAs following culture for 72 h with (+) or without (−) 5 mM metformin. Cell numbers are expressed relative to cell counts in control conditions (0 mM metformin), and data represent the mean ± SEM for each condition (n = 20). Levels of ACL knockdown in H1299 cells were determined by immunoblot. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01. Raw data for this figure can be found in S4 Data.