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Updated: Aug 8, 2025

Author Spotlight: Reprogramming Cancer Cells to iPSCs to Study Disease Progression and Treatment Targets
Published on: February 2, 2024
Metabolic Rewiring and Stemness: A Critical Attribute of Pancreatic Cancer Progression
Ayoola O Ogunleye1, Rama Krishna Nimmakayala1, Surinder K Batra1,2
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Abstract:
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive diseases with a poor 5-year survival rate. PDAC cells rely on various metabolic pathways to fuel their unlimited proliferation and metastasis. Reprogramming glucose, fatty acid, amino acid, and nucleic acid metabolisms contributes to PDAC cell growth. Cancer stem cells are the primary cell types that play a critical role in the progression and aggressiveness of PDAC. Emerging studies indicate that the cancer stem cells in PDAC tumors are heterogeneous and show specific metabolic dependencies. In addition, understanding specific metabolic signatures and factors that regulate these metabolic alterations in the cancer stem cells of PDAC paves the way for developing novel therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of PDAC metabolism by specifically exploring the metabolic dependencies of cancer stem cells. We also review the current knowledge of targeting these metabolic factors that regulate CSC maintenance and PDAC progression.
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