Lysophosphatidic Acid Acyltransferase b (LPAATb) Promotes the Tumor Growth of Human Osteosarcoma

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignancy of bone with poorly characterized molecular pathways important in its pathogenesis. Increasing evidence indicates that elevated lipid biosynthesis is a characteristic feature of cancer. We sought to investigate the role of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase b (LPAATb, aka, AGPAT2) in regulating the proliferation and growth of human osteosarcoma cells. LPAATb can generate phosphatidic acid, which plays a key role in lipid biosynthesis as well as in cell proliferation and survival. Although elevated expression of LPAATb has been reported in several types of human tumors, the role of LPAATb in osteosarcoma progression has yet to be elucidated. Methodology/Principal Findings: Endogenous expression of LPAATb in osteosarcoma cell lines is analyzed by using semi-quantitative PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of LPAATb and silencing LPAATb expression is employed to determine the effect of LPAATb on osteosarcoma cell proliferation and migration in vitro and osteosarcoma tumor growth in vivo. We have found that expression of LPAATb is readily detected in 8 of the 1