• Title/Summary/Keyword: Metabolism

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Convergence of Cancer Metabolism and Immunity: an Overview

  • Van Dang, Chi;Kim, Jung-whan
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.4-9
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    • 2018
  • Cancer metabolism as a field of research was founded almost 100 years ago by Otto Warburg, who described the propensity for cancers to convert glucose to lactate despite the presence of oxygen, which in yeast diminishes glycolytic metabolism known as the Pasteur effect. In the past 20 years, the resurgence of interest in cancer metabolism provided significant insights into processes involved in maintenance metabolism of non-proliferating cells and proliferative metabolism, which is regulated by proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressors in normal proliferating cells. In cancer cells, depending on the driving oncogenic event, metabolism is re-wired for nutrient import, redox homeostasis, protein quality control, and biosynthesis to support cell growth and division. In general, resting cells rely on oxidative metabolism, while proliferating cells rewire metabolism toward glycolysis, which favors many biosynthetic pathways for proliferation. Oncogenes such as MYC, BRAF, KRAS, and PI3K have been documented to rewire metabolism in favor of proliferation. These cell intrinsic mechanisms, however, are insufficient to drive tumorigenesis because immune surveillance continuously seeks to destroy neo-antigenic tumor cells. In this regard, evasion of cancer cells from immunity involves checkpoints that blunt cytotoxic T cells, which are also attenuated by the metabolic tumor microenvironment, which is rich in immuno-modulating metabolites such as lactate, 2-hydroxyglutarate, kynurenine, and the proton (low pH). As such, a full understanding of tumor metabolism requires an appreciation of the convergence of cancer cell intrinsic metabolism and that of the tumor microenvironment including stromal and immune cells.

Study on the Relationship between Physiology of Humor and Body fluid and Pathology of 'Phlegm-retained fluid' (수액(水液) 및 진액(津液) 생리(生理)와 담음(痰飮) 병리(病理)의 상관관계에 대한 고찰)

  • Lee, Jung Huk;Kim, Byoung Soo
    • Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.1-7
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    • 2017
  • There are two kinds of body fluid metabolism in Traditional Korean Medicine based on 'Internal Classic'("內經"); one is metabolism of body fluid(津液) meaning metabolism of physiological substance, and another is metabolism of humor meaning a metabolic process that excretes waste out of the body. 'Phlegm-retained fluid'(痰飮) is a typical pathological condition caused by abnormal fluid metabolism in Traditional Korean Medicine. As a result of reviewing the literature on 'phlegm-retained fluid'(痰飮), the following facts were found; 'Phlegm-retained fluid'(痰飮) is formed by abnormal state of metabolism of body fluid(津液). In other words, because of the action of various etiologies, qi(氣) and body fluid(津液) metabolism can have abnormal conditions and these metabolic disorders cause formation of 'phlegm-retained fluid'(痰飮). Treatments for 'phlegm-retained fluid'(痰飮) include the following: Eliminating the causes of illness, recovery of metabolism of qi(氣) and body fluid(津液), and functional recovery of pancreas and kidney related to body fluid(津液) metabolism. These treatments are distinguished from promotion of sweating(發汗) and helping urination, the treatments for humor metabolism abnormality.

Imaging Cancer Metabolism

  • Momcilovic, Milica;Shackelford, David B.
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.81-92
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    • 2018
  • It is widely accepted that altered metabolism contributes to cancer growth and has been described as a hallmark of cancer. Our view and understanding of cancer metabolism has expanded at a rapid pace, however, there remains a need to study metabolic dependencies of human cancer in vivo. Recent studies have sought to utilize multi-modality imaging (MMI) techniques in order to build a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of cancer metabolism. MMI combines several in vivo techniques that can provide complementary information related to cancer metabolism. We describe several non-invasive imaging techniques that provide both anatomical and functional information related to tumor metabolism. These imaging modalities include: positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) that uses hyperpolarized probes and optical imaging utilizing bioluminescence and quantification of light emitted. We describe how these imaging modalities can be combined with mass spectrometry and quantitative immunochemistry to obtain more complete picture of cancer metabolism. In vivo studies of tumor metabolism are emerging in the field and represent an important component to our understanding of how metabolism shapes and defines cancer initiation, progression and response to treatment. In this review we describe in vivo based studies of cancer metabolism that have taken advantage of MMI in both pre-clinical and clinical studies. MMI promises to advance our understanding of cancer metabolism in both basic research and clinical settings with the ultimate goal of improving detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.

Genetic Regulation of Corynebacterium glutamicum Metabolism

  • Wendisch Volker F.
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.16 no.7
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    • pp.999-1009
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    • 2006
  • Physiological, biochemical and genetic studies of Corynebacterium glutamicum, a workhorse of white biotechnology used for amino acid production, led to a waste knowledge mainly about amino acid biosynthetic pathways and the central carbon metabolism of this bacterium. Spurred by the availability of the genome sequence and of genome-based experimental methods such as DNA microarray analysis, research on genetic regulation came into focus. Recent progress on mechanisms of genetic regulation of the carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus metabolism in C. glutamicum will be discussed.

Gene Expression Profiling of Liver and Mammary Tissues of Lactating Dairy Cows

  • Baik, M.;Etchebarne, B.E.;Bong, J.;VandeHaar, M.J.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.22 no.6
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    • pp.871-884
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    • 2009
  • Gene expression profiling is a useful tool for identifying critical genes and pathways in metabolism. The objective of this study was to determine the major differences in the expression of genes associated with metabolism and metabolic regulation in liver and mammary tissues of lactating cows. We used the Michigan State University bovine metabolism (BMET) microarray; previously, we have designed a bovine metabolism-focused microarray containing known genes of metabolic interest using publicly available genomic internet database resources. This is a high-density array of 70mer oligonucleotides representing 2,349 bovine genes. The expression of 922 genes was different at p<0.05, and 398 genes (17%) were differentially expressed by two-fold or more with 222 higher in liver and 176 higher in mammary tissue. Gene ontology categories with a high percentage of genes more highly expressed in liver than mammary tissues included carbohydrate metabolism (glycolysis, glucoenogenesis, propanoate metabolism, butanoate metabolism, electron carrier and donor activity), lipid metabolism (fatty acid oxidation, chylomicron/lipid transport, bile acid metabolism, cholesterol metabolism, steroid metabolism, ketone body formation), and amino acid/nitrogen metabolism (amino acid biosynthetic process, amino acid catabolic process, urea cycle, and glutathione metabolic process). Categories with more genes highly expressed in mammary than liver tissue included amino acid and sugar transporters and MAPK, Wnt, and JAK-STAT signaling pathways. Real-time PCR analysis showed consistent results with those of microarray analysis for all 12 genes tested. In conclusion, microarray analyses clearly identified differential gene expression profiles between hepatic and mammary tissues that are consistent with the differences in metabolism of these two tissues. This study enables understanding of the molecular basis of metabolic adaptation of the liver and mammary gland during lactation in bovine species.