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Learning the metabolic language of cancer

The conversion of dietary sugar to the molecule lactate is a hallmark of many cancers. The discovery of a new binding partner of lactate provides insight into how cells link nutrient metabolism to the decision to divide.
  1. Minervo Perez

    1. Minervo Perez is at the National Cancer Institute, Chemical Biology Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.

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  2. Jordan L. Meier

    1. Jordan L. Meier is at the National Cancer Institute, Chemical Biology Laboratory, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.

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Lactate is a molecule formed by metabolism of the sugar glucose, and is made in high amounts by tumours and oxygen-deprived tissues, such as muscle cells during exercise. Outside cells, lactate circulating in the bloodstream can serve as a fuel source for many tissues1. Inside cells, an open question is whether lactate is mainly a waste product destined for excretion, or whether it can ‘speak’ directly to processes involved in cellular physiology and disease. Writing in Nature, Liu et al.2 identify a way in which lactate aids cell proliferation: by inhibiting a type of enzyme, called a protease, that is involved in cell-cycle regulation.

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Nature 616, 670-671 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01024-x

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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