HMGB1/SET/HAT1 complex-mediated SASH1 repression drives glycolysis and metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) can enhance the stability and accessibility of nucleus binding sites to nucleosomes and transcription factors. Recently, HMGB1 has been recognized as a positive regulator of tumor glutamine, and its overexpression has been correlated with tumorigenesis and cancer progression. However, functions and mechanisms of HMGB1 in regulation of glycolysis during cancer progression in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is still unclear. Here, we found that intracellular HMGB1 was consistently upregulated in LUAD specimens, and positively relevant to tumor grade and poor survival. HMGB1 facilitated glycolysis and promoted metastasis through physical interaction with SET and HAT1, forming HMGB1/SET/HAT1 complex that inhibited H3K9 and H3K27 acetylation in LUAD. The functional proteins complex coordinated histone modification to suppress the expression of SASH1, thus further facilitating glycolysis and inducing the metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Consistent with this, the expression of SASH1 was negatively correlated with HMGB1, SET and GLUT1, and positively correlated with HAT1 in human LUAD specimens. Clinically, LUAD patients with high expression of HMGB1 and low expression of SASH1 exhibited the worst clinical outcomes. Overall, the findings of this study revealed the critical role of HMGB1 in glycolysis and metastasis by attenuating H3K9ace and H3K27ace through physical interacted with SET and HAT1, which may facilitate future targeted therapies.