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CANCER METABOLISM

Upcycling the TCA cycle—rewiring tumour-associated fibroblasts

Nature Metabolism volume 3, pages 1439–1440 (2021)Cite this article

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Alterations to the extracellular matrix have long been associated with cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. Schwörer et al. describe a mechanism whereby fibroblasts reroute metabolites to fuel the demands of collagen synthesis, leading to cancer progression.

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Fig. 1: Fibroblasts upregulate pyruvate carboxylase to obtain metabolic flexibility and sustain collagen production in a nutrient-poor tumour microenvironment.

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Acknowledgements

Fig. 1 was generated using BioRender and adapted from “PDAC Histology”, by BioRender.com (2021). Retrieved from https://app.biorender.com/biorender-templates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Zachary A. Bacigalupa & W. Kimryn Rathmell

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  1. Zachary A. Bacigalupa
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  2. W. Kimryn Rathmell
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Correspondence to W. Kimryn Rathmell.

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Competing interests

W.K.R. declares research support from Incyte and support to an immediate family member as a founder, scientific advisory board member and stockholder of Sitryx Therapeutics; is a scientific advisory board member and stockholder of Caribou Biosciences; is a member of the scientific advisory board of Nirogy Therapeutics; and is a consultant for Merck, Pfizer, Mitobridge, Calithera Biosciences and Tempest Therapeutics. Z.A.B. declares no competing interests.

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Bacigalupa, Z.A., Rathmell, W.K. Upcycling the TCA cycle—rewiring tumour-associated fibroblasts. Nat Metab 3, 1439–1440 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00473-w

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