Li Shangfu, Gao Dan, Jiang Yuyang
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China.
National & Local United Engineering Lab for Personalized Anti-tumour Drugs, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Metabolites. 2019 Feb 21;9(2):36. doi: 10.3390/metabo9020036.
Acylcarnitines play an essential role in regulating the balance of intracellular sugar and lipid metabolism. They serve as carriers to transport activated long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria for β-oxidation as a major source of energy for cell activities. The liver is the most important organ for endogenous carnitine synthesis and metabolism. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a primary malignancy of the live with poor prognosis, may strongly influence the level of acylcarnitines. In this paper, the function, detection and alteration of acylcarnitine metabolism in HCC were briefly reviewed. An overview was provided to introduce the metabolic roles of acylcarnitines involved in fatty acid β-oxidation. Then different analytical platforms and methodologies were also briefly summarised. The relationship between HCC and acylcarnitine metabolism was described. Many of the studies reported that short, medium and long-chain acylcarnitines were altered in HCC patients. These findings presented current evidence in support of acylcarnitines as new candidate biomarkers for studies on the pathogenesis and development of HCC. Finally we discussed the challenges and perspectives of exploiting acylcarnitine metabolism and its related metabolic pathways as a target for HCC diagnosis and prognosis.
酰基肉碱在调节细胞内糖脂代谢平衡中发挥着重要作用。它们作为载体，将活化的长链脂肪酸转运至线粒体进行β氧化，作为细胞活动的主要能量来源。肝脏是内源性肉碱合成与代谢的最重要器官。肝细胞癌（HCC）是一种预后较差的原发性肝癌，可能会强烈影响酰基肉碱水平。本文简要综述了HCC中酰基肉碱代谢的功能、检测及变化。概述了酰基肉碱在脂肪酸β氧化中的代谢作用。还简要总结了不同的分析平台和方法。描述了HCC与酰基肉碱代谢之间的关系。许多研究报道，HCC患者体内短链、中链和长链酰基肉碱发生了变化。这些发现为酰基肉碱作为HCC发病机制和发展研究的新候选生物标志物提供了当前证据。最后，我们讨论了将酰基肉碱代谢及其相关代谢途径作为HCC诊断和预后靶点所面临的挑战和前景。
