One-carbon metabolism in cancer

Cells require one-carbon units for nucleotide synthesis, methylation and reductive metabolism, and these pathways support the high proliferative rate of cancer cells. As such, anti-folates, drugs that target one-carbon metabolism, have long been used in the treatment of cancer. Amino acids, such as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of cancer 2017-06, Vol.116 (12), p.1499-1504
Main Authors: Newman, Alice C, Maddocks, Oliver D K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Amino Acids - metabolism
Cancer research
Carbon
Carbon - metabolism
Diet
Dihydrofolate reductase
Drugs
Enzymes
Humans
Medical research
Metabolic Networks and Pathways
Metabolism
Methylation
Minireview
NAD - biosynthesis
NADP - biosynthesis
Neoplasms - drug therapy
Neoplasms - metabolism
Nucleotides - biosynthesis
Vitamin B
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Summary:Cells require one-carbon units for nucleotide synthesis, methylation and reductive metabolism, and these pathways support the high proliferative rate of cancer cells. As such, anti-folates, drugs that target one-carbon metabolism, have long been used in the treatment of cancer. Amino acids, such as serine are a major one-carbon source, and cancer cells are particularly susceptible to deprivation of one-carbon units by serine restriction or inhibition of de novo serine synthesis. Recent work has also begun to decipher the specific pathways and sub-cellular compartments that are important for one-carbon metabolism in cancer cells. In this review we summarise the historical understanding of one-carbon metabolism in cancer, describe the recent findings regarding the generation and usage of one-carbon units and explore possible future therapeutics that could exploit the dependency of cancer cells on one-carbon metabolism.
ISSN:0007-0920
1532-1827
DOI:10.1038/bjc.2017.118