مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Metabolic Requirements and Dependence of Cancer Cells

Abstract :

Cancer is a multistep disease leading normal cells to proliferate excessively in a timeless manner and to switch their metabolic activity. Corrupted signalling, apoptosis, and limited cell division is required for cancer cell growth. Normal resting cells should produce only ATP whereas proliferating cells should synthesize not only ATP but also macromolecules and protect cellular redox balance. It has been reported that cancer cells indicate atypical metabolic properties. Altough only a little ATP is obtained from the conversion of glucose to lactate, rapidly proliferating tumors convert glucose to lactate even in aerobic conditions. This feature of cancer cells are named as Warburg effect. Enhanced glucose intake due to these effects contribute to the production of amino acids and nucleosides and quickly create a path for energy production. Increased intake of glucose and its preferred catabolism to lactate have been suggested to support biomass generation and to protect redox balance in proliferating cells. Branched glucose metabolism is provided with overexpression of glucose spesific membrane and lactate transporters moreover it is provided with expression of the enzymes which responsible for the conversion of glucose to lactate. Glycolysis is related to many pathways in which it serves as a substrate of various glycolytic intermediates. The flow of glycolytic metabolites to glycolysis diverted pathways increase significantly in high glucose intake. The aim of this review is to determine potential target for cancer treatment by assessing metabolic feature of cancer cells.