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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Extraction of Aqueous Metabolites from Cultured Adherent Cells for Metabolomic Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 9, 2019
The metabolic fate of acetate in cancer
Zachary T Schug1,2, Johan Vande Voorde1, Eyal Gottlieb1
1Cancer Metabolism Research Unit, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Switchback Road, Glasgow G61 1BD, Scotland, UK.
Abstract:
Recent high-profile reports have reignited an interest in acetate metabolism in cancer. Acetyl-CoA synthetases that catalyse the conversion of acetate to acetyl-CoA have now been implicated in the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma, glioblastoma, breast cancer and prostate cancer. In this Review, we discuss how acetate functions as a nutritional source for tumours and as a regulator of cancer cell stress, and how preventing its (re)capture by cancer cells may provide an opportunity for therapeutic intervention.
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