Inhibition of CPT1A activates the cGAS/STING pathway to enhance neutrophil-mediated tumor abrogation in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains a challenging malignancy to treat, underscoring the urgent need to explore novel and effective therapeutic targets. In this study, we found that carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A), the central and rate-limiting enzyme for fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in lipid metabolism, is significantly correlates with poor survival outcomes in TNBC patients and is highly expressed in TNBC patient samples. Inhibition of CPT1A greatly suppresses TNBC tumor growth. Mechanistically, we discovered that beyond disruption of the canonical metabolic functions for tumor cell survival, CPT1A depletion markedly triggers cGAS/STING activation due to lipid accumulation-induced elevation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to mitochondrial damage and subsequent mtDNA cytosolic release, which ultimately promotes neutrophil intratumoral infiltration and acquisition of a tumor-killing phenotype, thereby effectively inhibiting tumor growth. Our current findings suggest that inhibition of CPT1A potently activates the cGAS/STING pathway, significantly enhancing the engagement of neutrophils for tumor abrogation.