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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Nutrient Regulation by Continuous Feeding for Large-scale Expansion of Mammalian Cells in Spheroids
Published on: September 25, 2016
Controlling cell growth and survival through regulated nutrient transporter expression
1Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2300, USA.
Mammalian cells regulate nutrient uptake via specific transporters. The target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway, particularly mTOR, controls transporter expression, impacting cell growth, proliferation, and potentially tumor suppression.
Area of Science:
- Cellular Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Nutrient uptake is essential for all cells but poorly understood in mammals.
- Nutrient transporters mediate cellular nutrient acquisition.
- The target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway regulates nutrient transporters in yeast.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of regulated nutrient transporter expression in mammalian cell growth control.
- To highlight the implications of nutrient transporter regulation in human diseases, including cancer.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on nutrient transporter regulation in mammalian cells.
- Focus on the role of mTOR (mammalian TOR) and PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase).
- Examination of nutrient transporter expression in lymphocytes and tumor cells.
Main Results:
- mTOR and PI3K link nutrient transporter expression to external signals like trophic factors.
- Extrinsic signals regulate nutrient transporter expression, driving lymphocyte growth and proliferation.
- Uncoupled nutrient transporter expression is crucial for non-homeostatic tumor cell growth.
- Nutrient transporter expression levels drive, rather than parallel, cellular metabolism.
Conclusions:
- Regulated nutrient transporter expression is central to cellular growth control.
- Dysregulation of nutrient transporters has significant implications for human diseases, particularly oncogenesis.
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