The folate cycle is a new metabolic weakness of cancer

Derek Lee; Carmen Chak-Lui Wong

doi:10.1080/23723556.2017.1327004

The folate cycle is a new metabolic weakness of cancer

Mol Cell Oncol. 2017 May 19;4(6):e1327004. doi: 10.1080/23723556.2017.1327004. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Derek Lee¹, Carmen Chak-Lui Wong^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
² State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Abstract

Cancer cells harness nutrients to support its rapid proliferation through metabolic reprogramming. Our report identified folate cycle as a metabolic target in hepatocellular carcinoma. Folate cycle stagnation via inhibition of its mitochondrial folate enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1-like (MTHFD1L) greatly induced oxidative stress improving HCC cells' response to sorafenib.

Keywords: Folate cycle; HCC; MTHFD1L; NADPH; metabolism; oxidative stress.