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Updated: Sep 30, 2025

Author Spotlight: Transmitochondrial Cybrid Generation Using Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: March 17, 2023
Metabolic tricks of cancer cells
Katerina Hönigova1, Jiri Navratil1, Barbora Peltanova2
1Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University / Kamenice 5, CZ-625 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
One of the characteristics of cancer cells important for tumorigenesis is their metabolic plasticity. Indeed, in various stress conditions, cancer cells can reshape their metabolic pathways to support the increased energy request due to continuous growth and rapid proliferation. Moreover, selective pressures in the tumor microenvironment, such as hypoxia, acidosis, and competition for resources, force cancer cells to adapt by complete reorganization of their metabolism. In this review, we highlight the characteristics of cancer metabolism and discuss its clinical significance, since overcoming metabolic plasticity of cancer cells is a key objective of modern cancer therapeutics and a better understanding of metabolic reprogramming may lead to the identification of possible targets for cancer therapy.
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