Serine, glycine and one-carbon units: cancer metabolism in full circle

JW Locasale - Nature Reviews Cancer, 2013 - nature.com
Nature Reviews Cancer, 2013nature.com
One-carbon metabolism involving the folate and methionine cycles integrates nutritional
status from amino acids, glucose and vitamins, and generates diverse outputs, such as the
biosynthesis of lipids, nucleotides and proteins, the maintenance of redox status and the
substrates for methylation reactions. Long considered a'housekeeping'process, this pathway
has recently been shown to have additional complexity. Genetic and functional evidence
suggests that hyperactivation of this pathway is a driver of oncogenesis and establishes a …
Abstract
One-carbon metabolism involving the folate and methionine cycles integrates nutritional status from amino acids, glucose and vitamins, and generates diverse outputs, such as the biosynthesis of lipids, nucleotides and proteins, the maintenance of redox status and the substrates for methylation reactions. Long considered a 'housekeeping' process, this pathway has recently been shown to have additional complexity. Genetic and functional evidence suggests that hyperactivation of this pathway is a driver of oncogenesis and establishes a link to cellular epigenetic status. Given the wealth of clinically available agents that target one-carbon metabolism, these new findings could present opportunities for translation into precision cancer medicine.
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