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Cancer Cell Metabolism: Reexamining the Regulation of Anabolic Growth in Health and Disease
Author(s) -
Thompson Craig B
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.226.1
Subject(s) - anabolism , cancer cell , biology , reprogramming , metabolic pathway , microbiology and biotechnology , metabolism , tumor microenvironment , cell growth , cancer , cell , biochemistry , genetics
Cancer cells engage in cell‐autonomous growth and proliferation through the reprogramming of cellular metabolism. There is a growing appreciation that many oncogenic mutations direct nutrient uptake and the diversion of intermediate metabolites into anabolic pathways. Much of what we know about anabolic metabolism has depended on studies of cells growing in rich medium. In contrast, an emerging feature of cancer cell metabolism is the ability to acquire necessary nutrients from a frequently nutrient‐poor environment and utilize these nutrients to both maintain viability and build new biomass. The alterations in intracellular metabolites that can accompany cancer‐associated metabolic reprogramming have profound effects on gene expression, cellular differentiation and the tumor microenvironment. As recently proposed (Pavlova and Thompson, 2016), cancer‐associated metabolic changes can be grouped into several distinct hallmark features: (1) deregulated uptake of glucose and amino acids, (2) use of opportunistic modes of nutrient acquisition, (3) use of glycolysis/TCA cycle intermediates for biosynthesis and NADPH production, (4) increased demand for nitrogen, (5) alterations in metabolite‐driven gene regulation, and (6) metabolic interactions with the microenvironment. Unraveling how cancer cells reprogram their metabolism to grow and divide in nutrient‐poor environments is shedding new light on the regulation of anabolic metabolism. These insights are identifying not only new approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment but also mechanisms that support normal tissue regeneration and repair. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .