Metabolic changes associated with tumor metastasis, part 2: mitochondria, lipid and amino acid metabolism

Cell Mol. Life Sci.

8 December 2015

 

Metabolic alterations are a hallmark of cancer controlling tumor progression and metastasis. Among the various metabolic phenotypes encountered in tumors, this review focuses on the contributions of mitochondria, lipid and amino acid metabolism to the metastatic process. Tumor cells require functional mitochondria to grow, proliferate and metastasize, but shifts in mitochondrial activities confer prometastatic traits encompassing increased production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS), enhanced resistance to apoptosis and the increased or de novo production of metabolic intermediates of the TCA cycle behaving as oncometabolites, including succinate, fumarate, and D–2-hydroxyglutarate that control energy production, biosynthesis and the redox state. Lipid metabolism and the metabolism of amino acids glutamine, glutamate and proline are also currently emerging as focal control points of cancer metastasis.