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ABSTRACT: It is increasingly appreciated that cancer cells must be endowed with specific metabolic adaptations
to support enhanced growth and to ensure survival under stressful conditions. On the other hand, many
oncogenic mutations of protooncogenes and tumor suppressor genes directly cause metabolic derangements
and, conversely,mutations of enzymes have been found to underlie several forms of cancer. Thus, cancer-specific
metabolic alterations are now considered among the hallmarks of malignant tumors. Most commonly,
cancer cells exhibit enhanced glycolysis under aerobic conditions (the Warburg effect) but alterations in the
metabolism of amino acids, such as glutamine, serine and proline are increasingly described as important
metabolic features of selected tumor types. In theory, all these deranged cancer-specific metabolic pathways
may constitute novel therapeutic targets, although the only “metabolic” drug in clinical use is still represented
by the enzyme L-asparaginase. However, the increasing amount of experimental evidence, as well as the
number of trials in progress, suggests that metabolic drugs will soon complement standard anti-cancer
chemotherapy and modern biological drugs.
L' Ateneo parmense. Sezione I: Acta bio-medica 12/2012; 83:168-176.
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ABSTRACT: It is increasingly appreciated that cancer cells must be endowed with specific metabolic adaptations to support enhanced growth and to ensure survival under stressful conditions. On the other hand, many oncogenic mutations of protooncogenes and tumor suppressor genes directly cause metabolic derangements and, conversely, mutations of enzymes have been found to underlie several forms of cancer. Thus, cancer-specific metabolic alterations are now considered among the hallmarks of malignant tumors. Most commonly, cancer cells exhibit enhanced glycolysis under aerobic conditions (the Warburg effect) but alterations in the metabolism of amino acids, such as glutamine, serine and proline are increasingly described as important metabolic features of selected tumor types. In theory, all these deranged cancer-specific metabolic pathways may constitute novel therapeutic targets, although the only "metabolic" drug in clinical use is still represented by the enzyme L-asparaginase. However, the increasing amount of experimental evidence, as well as the number of trials in progress, suggests that metabolic drugs will soon complement standard anti-cancer chemotherapy and modern biological drugs.
Acta bio-medica: Atenei Parmensis 12/2012; 83(3):168-76.
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ABSTRACT: Glutamine and leucine are important mTORC1 modulators, although their roles are not precisely defined. In HepG2 and HeLa cells glutamine-free incubation lowers mTORC1 activity, although cell leucine is not decreased. mTORC1 activity, suppressed by amino acid-free incubation, is completely rescued only if essential amino acids (EAA) and glutamine are simultaneously restored, although cell leucine is higher in the absence than in the presence of glutamine. Thus, glutamine stimulates mTORC1 independent of cell leucine, suggesting the existence of two distinct stimulatory signals from either glutamine or EAA.
Amino Acids 05/2012; · 3.25 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Selected oncogenic mutations support unregulated growth enhancing glutamine availability but increasing the dependence of tumor cells on the amino acid. Data from literature indicate that a subset of HepatoCellular Carcinomas (HCC) is characterized by mutations of β-catenin and overexpression of Glutamine Synthetase (GS). To assess if this phenotype may constitute an example of glutamine addiction, we treated four human HCC lines with the enzyme L-Asparaginase (ASNase), a glutaminolytic drug. ASNase had a significant antiproliferative effect only in the β-catenin mutated HepG2 cells, which were partially rescued by the anaplerotic intermediates pyruvate and α-ketoglutarate. The enzyme severely depleted cell glutamine, caused eIF2α phosphorylation, inhibited mTOR activity, and increased autophagy in both HepG2 and in the β-catenin wild type cell line Huh-7. When used with ASNase, the GS inhibitor methionine sulfoximine (MSO) emptied cell glutamine pool, arresting proliferation in ASNase-insensitive Huh-7 cells and activating caspase-3 and apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Compared with Huh-7 cells, HepG2 cells accumulated much higher levels of glutamine and MSO, due to the higher expression and activity of SNAT2, a concentrative transporter for neutral amino acids, but were much more sensitive to glutamine withdrawal from the medium. In the presence of ASNase, MSO caused a paradoxical maintenance of rapamycin-sensitive mTOR activity in both HepG2 and Huh-7 cells. β-catenin silencing lowered ASNase sensitivity of HepG2 cells and of Huh-6 cells, another β-catenin-mutated cell line, which also exhibited high sensitivity to ASNase. Thus, β-catenin mutated HCC cells are more sensitive to glutamine depletion and accumulate higher levels of GS inhibitors. These results indicate that glutamine deprivation may constitute a targeted therapy for β-catenin-mutated HCC cells addicted to the amino acid.
Current cancer drug targets 08/2011; 11(8):929-43. · 5.13 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: L-Methionine sulfoximine (MSO) and DL-Phosphinothricin (PPT), two non-proteinogenic amino acids known as inhibitors of Glutamine Synthetase, cause a dose-dependent increase in the phosphorylation of the mTOR substrate S6 kinase 1. The effect is particularly evident in glutamine-depleted cells, where mTOR activity is very low, but is detectable for PPT also in the presence of glutamine. The stimulation of mTOR activity by either MSO or PPT is strongly synergized by essential amino acids. Thus, the non-proteinogenic amino acids MSO and PPT are mTOR activators.
Amino Acids 07/2011; 42(6):2507-12. · 3.25 Impact Factor
