Biomedical Laboratory Science

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Showing posts with label Warburg Effect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warburg Effect. Show all posts

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Amino Acids in Cancer Metabolism and Neuroscience

These Building Blocks Could Be Valuable Tools for Research

Amino acids are important building blocks for protein synthesis and are also intermediary metabolites that fuel biosynthetic reactions, thus playing a dual role in cellular metabolism. Accurate quantification of L-amino acids in body fluids or purified samples may provide valuable information for diagnostic and basic research studies.

Cellular Roles of Amino Acids in Cancer and Neurobiology
Cancer cells have altered metabolism and are known for their metabolic abnormalities. One example is the Warburg effect, in which there is increased glycolytic activity even in the presence of oxygen. Cancer cells depend on a high rate of aerobic glycolysis for continued growth and survival.


Figure 1. Glutamine and the metabolism of other amino acids as targets for cancer therapy.
[Int J Mol Sci 2015;16:22830–22855; doi:10.3390/ijms160922830]
Source: genengnews

Saturday, September 3, 2016

From Krebs to Clinic: Glutamine Metabolism to Cancer Therapy

The resurgence of research into cancer metabolism has recently broadened interests beyond glucose and the Warburg effect to other nutrients, including glutamine. Because oncogenic alterations of metabolism render cancer cells addicted to nutrients, pathways involved in glycolysis or glutaminolysis could be exploited for therapeutic purposes. In this Review, we provide an updated overview of glutamine metabolism and its involvement in tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo, and explore the recent potential applications of basic science discoveries in the clinical setting.

  • Cancer cells show increased consumption of and dependence on glutamine.
  • Glutamine metabolism fuels the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, nucleotide and fatty acid biosynthesis, and redox balance in cancer cells.
  • Glutamine activates mTOR signaling, suppresses endoplasmic reticulum stress and promotes protein synthesis.



Major metabolic and biosynthetic fates of glutamine



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