2026 CONVENTION
HER2 drives a targetable glutamine metabolic dependency in KRASG13Dcolorectal cancer
KRASG13D colorectal cancer (CRC) exhibits distinct biological and therapeutic characteristics, suggesting genotype-specific vulnerabilities. Here, we investigated the role of HER2 in metabolic reprogramming of KRASG13D CRC. Untargeted and targeted metabolomic profiling revealed that HER2 depletion markedly altered amino acid metabolism, particularly glutamine–glutamate metabolism, accompanied by decreased intracellular glutamate and the glutamate-to-glutamine ratio. Transcriptomic and molecular analyses identified glutaminase 1 (GLS1) as a potential downstream metabolic effector of HER2, with preferential reduction of GLS1 following HER2 depletion in KRASG13D cells. Analysis of human CRC datasets further showed a positive association between ERBB2 and GLS expression and poor survival associated with high GLS expression in KRASG13D tumors. Functionally, KRASG13D cells were sensitive to glutamine deprivation and pharmacological or genetic GLS1 inhibition, while GLS1 inhibition enhanced the antitumor effect of cetuximab. GSEA further revealed enrichment of MYC target and PI3K–AKT signaling signatures in GLS-high KRASG13D tumors. Collectively, these findings identify a HER2-associated GLS1-dependent metabolic vulnerability in KRASG13D CRC and support GLS1 as a potential therapeutic target in this molecular subtype.