Healthy cells that surround a tumour supply it with metabolites that support the voracious appetite of cancer cells — and could one day be targeted by therapeutics.

Cells can swap molecules by producing membrane-bound sacs called exosomes, which act as shuttles between cells. Deepak Nagrath of Rice University in Houston, Texas, and his team studied exosomes from normal connective-tissue cells associated with prostate and pancreatic cancers. They found that the activity of certain metabolic pathways increased in cancer cells when they took up exosomes from nearby normal cells.

The exosomes transported amino acids, lipids and other metabolites to the cancer cells. This cargo helped to sustain tumour growth when nutrients were limiting.

eLife http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.10250 (2016)