Cancer cells ignore oxygen availability, opting for less efficient, anaerobic ways of generating energy. The wisdom behind this choice seems to be in preventing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and so oxidative damage.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Warburg, O. Science 123, 309–314 (1956).
Hsu, P. P. & Sabatini, D. M. Cell 134, 703–707 (2008).
Cairns, R. A., Harris, I. S. & Mak, T. W. Nature Rev. Cancer 11, 85–95 (2011).
Anastasiou, D. et al. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1211485 (2011).
Bluemlein, K. et al. Oncotarget 2, 393–400 (2011).
Hitosugi, T. et al. Sci. Signal. 2, ra73 (2009).
Christofk, H. R. et al. Nature 452, 230–233 (2008).
Vander Heiden, M. G. et al. Science 329, 1492–1499 (2010).
Grüning, N.-M. et al. Cell Metab. 14, 415–427 (2011).
Krüger, A. et al. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 15, 311–324 (2011).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grüning, NM., Ralser, M. Sacrifice for survival. Nature 480, 190–191 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/480190a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/480190a
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The GAPDH redox switch safeguards reductive capacity and enables survival of stressed tumour cells
Nature Metabolism (2023)
-
A mitochondrial strategy for safeguarding the reprogrammed genome
Cell Regeneration (2014)
-
Identification of LDH-A as a therapeutic target for cancer cell killing via (i) p53/NAD(H)-dependent and (ii) p53-independent pathways
Oncogenesis (2014)
-
Serine starvation induces stress and p53-dependent metabolic remodelling in cancer cells
Nature (2013)
-
Tpo1‐mediated spermine and spermidine export controls cell cycle delay and times antioxidant protein expression during the oxidative stress response
EMBO reports (2013)