title: Managing lipid metabolism in proliferating cells: new perspective for metformin usage in cancer therapy.
abstract: Cancer cells metabolically adapt to undergo cellular proliferation. Lipids, besides their well-known role as energy storage, represent the major building blocks for the synthesis of neo-generated membranes. There is increasing evidence that cancer cells show specific alterations in different aspects of lipid metabolism. The changes of expression and activity of lipid metabolising enzymes are directly regulated by the activity of oncogenic signals. The dependence of tumour cells on the deregulated lipid metabolism suggests that proteins involved in this process could be excellent chemotherapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Due to its rare side effects in non-cancerous cells, metformin has been recently revaluated as a potential anti-tumourigenic drug, which negatively affects lipid biosynthetic pathways. In this review we summarised the emerging molecular events linking the anti-proliferative effect of metformin with lipid metabolism in cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lettieri Barbato
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rolando
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vegliante
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Desideri
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy; IRCCS San Raffaele, Biochemistry of Ageing, Via di Val Cannuta, 00166 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: ciriolo@bio.uniroma2.it.
authors.forename: Maria Rosa
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ciriolo
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*; D008687:Metformin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D008687:Metformin; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D005947:Glucose
keywords: ACC; ACLY; AMPK; ATGL; Lipa; SREBPs