NYMC Faculty Publications
Metabolic Recycling Enhances Proliferation in MYC-Transformed Lymphoma B Cells
Author Type(s)
Faculty
DOI
10.1002/adbi.202200233
Journal Title
Advanced Biology
First Page
e2200233
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-2023
Department
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Abstract
Relapses negatively impact cancer patient survival due to the tumorigenesis ability of surviving cancer cells post-therapy. Efforts are needed to better understand and combat this problem. This study hypothesized that dead cell debris post-radiation therapy creates an advantageous microenvironment rich in metabolic materials promoting the growth of remaining live cancer cells. In this study, live cancer cells are co-cultured with dead cancer cells eradicated by UV radiation to mimic a post-therapy environment. Isotopic labeling metabolomics is used to investigate the metabolic behavior of cancer cells grown in a post-radiation-therapy environment. It is found that post-UV-eradicated dead cancer cells serve as nutritional sources of "off-the-shelf" and precursor metabolites for surviving cancer cells. The surviving cancer cells then take up these metabolites, integrate and upregulate multiple vital metabolic processes, thereby significantly increasing growth in vitro and probably in vivo beyond their intrinsic fast-growing characteristics. Importantly, this active metabolite uptake behavior is only observed in oncogenic but not in non-oncogenic cells, presenting opportunities for therapeutic approaches to interrupt the active uptake process of oncogenic cells without affecting normal cells. The process by which living cancer cells re-use vital metabolites released by dead cancer cells post-therapy is coined in this study as "metabolic recycling" of oncogenic cells.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, C., Hoang, G., Attarwala, N., Cooper, A. J., Asaka, R., & Le, A. (2023). Metabolic Recycling Enhances Proliferation in MYC-Transformed Lymphoma B Cells. Advanced Biology, 7 (2), e2200233. https://doi.org/10.1002/adbi.202200233