Bacteria in nature reside in organized communities, termed biofilms, which are composed of multiple individual cells adhering to each other. Similarly, tumors are a multicellular mass with distinct cellular phenotypes. Both tumors and biofilms are considered to be an active interphase between unicellular and multicellular life states. Because both of these units depend on glutamine for growth and survival, we review here glutamine flux within them as a readout for intra- and inter-commensal metabolism. We suggest that the difference between glutamine fluxes in these cellular communities lies mainly in their global multicellular metabolic organization. Both the differences and similarities described here should be taken into account when considering glutamine-targeting therapeutic approaches.

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从原核生物到癌症：多细胞单位中的谷氨酰胺通量

自然界中的细菌存在于有组织的群落中，称为生物膜，由多个相互粘附的单个细胞组成。同样，肿瘤是具有不同细胞表型的多细胞团块。肿瘤和生物膜都被认为是单细胞和多细胞生命状态之间的活跃界面。因为这两个单位的生长和生存都依赖于谷氨酰胺，我们在这里回顾了它们内的谷氨酰胺通量，作为共生内和共生间代谢的读数。我们认为这些细胞群落中谷氨酰胺通量之间的差异主要在于它们的全球多细胞代谢组织。在考虑谷氨酰胺靶向治疗方法时，应考虑此处描述的差异和相似之处。