Molecular Cell
Volume 81, Issue 18, 16 September 2021, Pages 3731-3748
Journal home page for Molecular Cell

Review
Supply and demand: Cellular nutrient uptake and exchange in cancer

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2021.08.026Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Summary

Nutrient supply and demand delineate cell behavior in health and disease. Mammalian cells have developed multiple strategies to secure the necessary nutrients that fuel their metabolic needs. This is more evident upon disruption of homeostasis in conditions such as cancer, when cells display high proliferation rates in energetically challenging conditions where nutritional sources may be scarce. Here, we summarize the main routes of nutrient acquisition that fuel mammalian cells and their implications in tumorigenesis. We argue that the molecular mechanisms of nutrient acquisition not only tip the balance between nutrient supply and demand but also determine cell behavior upon nutrient limitation and energetic stress and contribute to nutrient partitioning and metabolic coordination between different cell types in inflamed or tumorigenic environments.

Keywords

nutrient transport
nutrient scavenging
nutrient transporters
cancer
SLC proteins
amino acid

Cited by (0)