title: Cancer cell metabolism and the modulating effects of nitric oxide.
abstract: Altered metabolic phenotype has been recognized as a hallmark of tumor cells for many years, but this aspect of the cancer phenotype has come into greater focus in recent years. NOS2 (inducible nitric oxide synthase of iNOS) has been implicated as a component in many aggressive tumor phenotypes, including melanoma, glioblastoma, and breast cancer. Nitric oxide has been well established as a modulator of cellular bioenergetics pathways, in many ways similar to the alteration of cellular metabolism observed in aggressive tumors. In this review we attempt to bring these concepts together with the general hypothesis that one function of NOS2 and NO in cancer is to modulate metabolic processes to facilitate increased tumor aggression. There are many mechanisms by which NO can modulate tumor metabolism, including direct inhibition of respiration, alterations in mitochondrial mass, oxidative inhibition of bioenergetic enzymes, and the stimulation of secondary signaling pathways. Here we review metabolic alterations in the context of cancer cells and discuss the role of NO as a potential mediator of these changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Redox Biology Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Ching-Fang
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Redox Biology Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Anne R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Diers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Redox Biology Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. Electronic address: nhogg@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hogg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide