The implications of signaling lipids in cancer metastasis

• Published in: Experimental & molecular medicine Vol. 50; no. 9; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Luo, Xiangjian, Zhao, Xu, Cheng, Can, Li, Namei, Liu, Ying, Cao, Ya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 21.09.2018; Springer Nature B.V; Nature Publishing Group; 생화학분자생물학회
• Subjects: 14/69; 631/67/2327; 631/67/322; 96/95; Animals; Avidity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Exosomes; Exosomes - metabolism; Humans; Lipid composition; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Medical Biochemistry; Metabolic disorders; Metabolism; Metastases; Metastasis; Models, Biological; Molecular Medicine; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasms - metabolism; Neoplasms - pathology; Review; Review Article; Signal Transduction; Stem Cells; Tumor cells; 생화학
• ISSN: 1226-3613; 2092-6413
• DOI: 10.1038/s12276-018-0150-x

Metastasis is the most malignant stage of cancer. Lipid metabolic abnormalities are now increasingly recognized as characteristics of cancer cells. The accumulation of certain lipid species, such as signaling lipids, due to the avidity of lipid metabolism may be a causal factor of tumor malignant progression and metastatic behavior. In this review, we first describe signaling lipids implicated in cancer migration, invasion and metastasis. Next, we summarize the regulatory signaling hubs of lipid anabolic and catabolic metabolism. We then address lipid-rich circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and the lipid composition of exosomes budded off from tumor cells. We also present advances in targeting the regulatory hubs of lipid metabolism and signaling lipids in cancer therapy. Given the complexity of metabolic disorders in cancer, the development of significant portfolios of approaches to target signaling lipids by the integration of multiple chemical modulations, as well as molecular imaging modalities, should offer promising strategies for cancer therapy. Cancer treatment: Targeting or Modifying lipids with signaling role Lipid molecules with cellular signaling roles are increasingly recognized as playing a role in cancer metastasis, the dangerous spread of cancer cells beyond a primary tumor, and these lipids may offer new targets for anti-cancer treatments. Researchers in China led by Xiangjian Luo and Ya Cao at the Central South University in Changsha review the involvement of signaling lipids in cancer. The signaling lipids are a structurally diverse range of molecules that can regulate metabolic processes which become disrupted in cancer. They can act within cells and also when released from some cells to interact with others. Some of the lipids are released in tiny membrane-bound sacs called exosomes. Modifying the lipid content of exosomes, or purifying and then re-administering exosomes to deliver drugs, could offer promising options for developing novel treatments for cancer.