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PHGDH and cancer: new job for an old enzyme!

Duygu Kuzuoglu-Ozturk1,2

  • 1Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

The EMBO Journal
|December 8, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Cancer cells use the enzyme phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) to boost energy metabolism and promote liver tumor growth, even under stress. This enzyme has a newly discovered role in regulating mitochondrial activity.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Cancer Biology
  • Metabolic Pathways

Background:

  • Cancer cells exhibit altered energy metabolism to survive and proliferate.
  • The de novo serine synthesis pathway is crucial for cancer cell growth.
  • Phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) is a key enzyme in serine synthesis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the non-canonical functions of PHGDH in cancer.
  • To understand how PHGDH influences energy metabolism under stress.
  • To explore the role of PHGDH in liver cancer progression.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized liver cancer models.
  • Assessed mitochondrial translation.
  • Analyzed tumor progression markers.

Main Results:

  • PHGDH regulates mitochondrial translation.
  • PHGDH activity is linked to tumor progression in liver cancer.
  • PHGDH plays a role beyond serine synthesis in cancer metabolism.

Conclusions:

  • PHGDH has a novel function in regulating mitochondrial translation.
  • PHGDH contributes to liver cancer progression through this non-canonical role.
  • Targeting PHGDH may offer new therapeutic strategies for liver cancer.

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