Glucose metabolism of TAMs in tumor chemoresistance and metastasis

Juan Liu; Xuetao Cao

doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2023.03.008

Glucose metabolism of TAMs in tumor chemoresistance and metastasis

Trends Cell Biol. 2023 Nov;33(11):967-978. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2023.03.008. Epub 2023 Apr 18.

Authors

Juan Liu¹, Xuetao Cao²

Affiliations

¹ National Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Institute of Immunology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: Juanliu@immunol.org.
² National Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Institute of Immunology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Immunology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100005, China; Institute of Immunology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: caoxt@immunol.org.

PMID: 37080816
DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2023.03.008

Abstract

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are critical in promoting tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. In adapting to metabolic changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME), TAMs reprogram their metabolisms and acquire immunosuppressive and pro-tumor properties. Increased glucose metabolism in TAMs leads to the accumulation of a variety of oncometabolites that exhibit potent tumor-promoting capacity via regulating gene expression and signaling transduction. Glucose uptake also fuels O-GlcNAcylation and other post-translational modifications to promote pro-tumor polarization and function of TAMs. Glucose metabolism coordinates interactions between TAMs and various types of cells in the TME, creating a complex network that facilitates tumor progression. Targeting glucose metabolism represents a promising strategy to switch TAMs from pro-tumor toward anti-tumor function for cancer therapy.

Keywords: O-GlcNAcylation; glucose metabolism; lactic acids; tumor metastasis; tumor-associated macrophages.

Publication types

Review