Abstract
Maintenance of fissed mitochondria is viewed as a defining feature of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS)-mutant cancers. However, regulation of this process by accompanying comutations or environmental factors is not clearly defined. Here, by analyzing a subset of pancreatic cancer lesions driven by concurrent Kras
G12D
and
GNAS
complex locus gene (GNAS
R201C/H
) mutations, we found that despite the presence of mutant Kras, hyperactive Gnas
R201C
maintains mitochondria predominantly in a fused state, which is necessary for tumor growth. Multiplex proteomics, super-resolution microscopy, loss- and gain-of-function studies, coupled with metabolite rescue experiments, revealed that Gnas
R201C
-regulated branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) pathway is a previously unidentified regulator of mitochondrial morphology. Mechanistically, the BCAA pathway, the associated tricarboxylic acid cycle, and aspartate metabolism converge on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH-NAD
+
) metabolites to promote mitochondrial elongation. NAD
+
availability is crucial for mitochondrial fusion, as facilitating NAD
+
generation through alternative means promotes fusion. Collectively, we unraveled a new mechanism that drives mitochondrial fusion and showed that the combination of oncogenic signaling and metabolism can maintain distinct mitochondrial morphology within genetic subsets of KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer.