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MicroRNA regulation and analytical methods in cancer cell metabolism

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Abstract

The reprogramming of glucose metabolism from oxidative to glycolytic metabolism, known as the Warburg effect, is an anomalous characteristic of cancer cell metabolism. Recent studies have revealed a subset of microRNAs (miRNAs) that play critical roles in regulating the reprogramming of glucose metabolism in cancer cells. These miRNAs regulate cellular glucose metabolism by directly targeting multiple metabolic genes, including those encoding key glycolytic enzymes. In the first part of this review, we summarized the recent knowledge of miRNA regulation in the reprogramming of glucose metabolism in cancer cells and discussed the potential utilization of the key miRNA regulators as metabolic targets for developing new antitumor agents. Then, we summarized recent advances in methods and techniques for studying miRNA regulation in cancer cell metabolism.

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Abbreviations

MiRNA:

MicroRNA

3′ UTR:

3′ Untranslated region

KO:

Knockout

GLUT:

Glucose transporter

SGLT:

Na+-coupled glucose transporter

HK:

Hexokinase

G-6-P:

Glucose-6-phosphate

F-6-P:

Fructose-6-phosphate

F-1,6-P:

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate

F-2,6-P:

Fructose-2,6-bisphosphate

G-3-P:

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate

R-5-P:

Ribulose 5-phosphate

PKM1/M2:

Pyruvate kinase isozymes M1/M2

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma cell

PTB1 or PTBP1:

Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1

GC:

Gastric cancer

LDH:

Lactate dehydrogenase

NAD:

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

PDC:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex

PDH:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase

PDK:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase

EMT:

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition

PFK:

Phosphofructokinase

1,3-BPG:

1,3-Bisphosphoglyceric acid

DHAP:

Dihydroxyacetone phosphate

PEP:

Phosphoenolpyruvate

GT:

Glutamine transporter

AldoA:

Aldolase A

GAPDH:

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

MCTs:

Monocarboxylate transporters

MS:

Mass spectrometry

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

EC:

Esophageal cancer

HNSCC:

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

UHPLC:

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography

TCA:

Tricarboxylic acid

LC/MS:

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

CE/MS:

Capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometry

GC/MS:

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

2DG:

2-Deoxy-d-glucose

2-NBDG:

2-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl) amino)-2-deoxyglucose

3-OPG:

3-O-propargyl-d-glucose

NIR:

Near infrared fluorescence

CTC:

Circulating tumor cells

FRET:

Förster resonance energy transfer

TPM:

Two-photon microscopy

PET:

Positron emission tomography

FLT:

Fluorothymidine

SUVs:

Standardized uptake values

MRS:

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy

AML:

Acute myeloid leukemia

5-FU:

5-Fluorouracil

α-KG:

α-Ketoglutarate

lncRNAs:

Long noncoding RNAs

OCR:

Oxygen consumption rate

ECAR:

Extracellular acidification rate

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Acknowledgements

We thank other members of the Liu laboratory for discussions and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31325008, 91640201, 91419307, and 31300656), Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2014CB943103 and 2014CB964802), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (13ZR1464300 and 16XD1404900), and Chinese Academy of Sciences (“Strategic Priority Research Program” Grant XDB19010202). We apologize to authors whose studies have not been cited in this manuscript due to space limitations.

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All three authors were responsible for writing, reviewing, and revising the manuscript. Provenance: the authors were invited to submit this review manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for RNA Research, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai, China

    Ling-Fei Zhang & Mo-Fang Liu

  2. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Andrology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Ling-Fei Zhang & Mo-Fang Liu

  3. Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Ling-Fei Zhang

  4. Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    Shuai Jiang

  5. School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Mo-Fang Liu

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  1. Ling-Fei Zhang
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Zhang, LF., Jiang, S. & Liu, MF. MicroRNA regulation and analytical methods in cancer cell metabolism. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 74, 2929–2941 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-017-2508-y

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