Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Establishment of an Extracellular Acidic pH Culture System
Published on: November 19, 2017
Extracellular Citrate Fuels Cancer Cell Metabolism and Growth
Sebastian Haferkamp1, Konstantin Drexler1, Marianne Federlin2
1Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center, Regensburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Cancer cells need excess energy and essential nutrients/metabolites not only to divide and proliferate but also to migrate and invade distant organs for metastasis. Fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis, considered a hallmark of cancer for anabolism and membrane biogenesis, requires citrate. We review here potential pathways in which citrate is synthesized and/or supplied to cancer cells and the impact of extracellular citrate on cancer cell metabolism and growth. Cancer cells employ different mechanisms to support mitochondrial activity and citrate synthesis when some of the necessary substrates are missing in the extracellular space. We also discuss the different transport mechanisms available for the entry of extracellular citrate into cancer cells and how citrate as a master metabolite enhances ATP production and fuels anabolic pathways. The available literature suggests that cancer cells show an increased metabolic flexibility with which they tackle changing environmental conditions, a phenomenon crucial for cancer cell proliferation and metastasis.
Related Concept Videos
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
The Tumor Microenvironment
Electron Transport Chain: Complex I and II
ROS generation is regulated and maintained at moderate levels necessary...
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Mitogens and the Cell Cycle

