Advances in the Regulatory Effects of Bioactive Peptides on Metabolic Signaling Pathways in Tumor Cells.

Changes in cell metabolism are an important feature of tumors that has always been an intense topic of study, particularly in regard to whether metabolic disorders are a cause or an effect of tumorigenesis. Studies have shown that the processes underlying metabolic changes in tumors involve the activation of protooncogenes and the inactivation of cancer suppressor genes, as well as changes in metabolic flux in cells due to the abnormal activation of signaling pathways that modulate metabolic enzymes and/or metabolic regulatory proteins at several levels, including transfer and posttranslational modification. Thus, the repair of abnormal metabolic pathways via intervention in the relevant tumor metabolic pathways that impact specific targets has become a new method of cancer prevention and treatment. Bioactive peptides, which have many biological functions, could specifically target malignant tumors. Their interaction with signal transduction molecules involved in the development and transference of tumors could regulate the relevant cell metabolic pathways and inhibit the development of tumors and/or accelerate apoptosis in tumor cells. In this review, several aspects of tumor suppression using bioactive peptides will be discussed and summarized, including the regulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR, AMPK, and STST3 signaling pathways, the modulation of the TRAIL death receptor signaling pathway, the regulation of aerobic glycolysis by PKM2, and the modulation of the NF-кB signaling pathway, to aid in the search for better and more specific antineoplastic drugs in the form of bioactive peptides.