title: Metabolic evaluations of cancer metabolism by NMR-based stable isotope tracer methodologies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer cells are widely recognized for being able to adapt their metabolism towards converting available nutrients into biomass to increase proliferation rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will review a series of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based stable isotope tracer methodologies for probing cancer metabolism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The monitoring of such adaptations is of the utmost importance to unravel cancer metabolism and tumour growth. Several major metabolic targets have been recognized as promising foci and have been addressed by multiple studies in recent years. In this work are presented strategies to quantify glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, Krebs cycle turnover and de novo lipogenesis by NMR isotopomer analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being able to adequately define the interplay between metabolic pathways allows the monitoring of their prevalence in tissues and such information is critical for an accurate knowledge of the metabolic distinctive nature of tumours towards devising more efficient antitumorigenic strategies. Discussed methodologies are currently available in the literature, but to date, no single review has compiled all their possible uses, particularly in an interdependent perspective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ludgero C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jarak
authors.forename: Fernando N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.forename: Paulo J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Rui A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D002952:Citric Acid Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D003903:Deuterium; D006019:Glycolysis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D050155:Lipogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D010427:Pentose Phosphate Pathway / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D003903:Deuterium
keywords: Cancer Metabolism; Isotopomer Analysis; NMR; Stable Isotopes