2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Research on cancer-specific metabolic genes highly expressed in nutrient deprivation and cancer metabolic reprogramming
Project/Area Number |
20K16371
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Review Section |
Basic Section 50010:Tumor biology-related
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Research Institution | Microbial Chemistry Research Foundation |
Principal Investigator |
Onodera Takefumi 公益財団法人微生物化学研究会, 微生物化学研究所 沼津支所, 研究員 (20733166)
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Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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Keywords | がん代謝 / ペントースリン酸経路 / アミノ酸欠乏 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment, characterized by hypoxia, low pH, and low nutrient conditions, undergo metabolic alterations that highly rely on the glycolytic pathway to acquire the energy necessary for proliferation and survival. Recent cancer metabolism studies have reported the complicated process of metabolic pathway alteration. However, few reports still exist on the molecular mechanism for cancer cells under nutrient deprivation. In this study, we found Transketolase-like 1 (TKTL1), whose expression significantly increases in an amino acid-deprived condition, and investigated its genetic function elucidation and potential as a molecular target in cancer treatment. As a result, TKTL1 was shown to potentially facilitate the proliferation of cancer cells in an amino acid-deprived environment. TKTL1 was suggested to be an attractive target for anti-cancer drug development.
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Free Research Field |
腫瘍生物学
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
腫瘍微小腫瘍環境の一つである低栄養状態を模倣した環境において、ペントースリン酸経路で機能するとされるTransketolase-like 1 (TKTL1)が高発現していることを見出し、がんにおけるTKTL1の機能解明を行った。これまで、TKTL1の機能についての詳細はよく分かっていなかったが、in vitroおよびin vivo実験結果から、TKTL1を抑制すれば、腫瘍増大を阻止できることが示唆された。本研究は、未解明であるがん代謝の理解を深めるとともに、がん特異的代謝を標的とした阻害剤の開発および新しいがん治療法の基盤構築に繋がることが期待される。
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