Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil.
Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil.
Semin Cancer Biol. 2022 Nov;86(Pt 3):590-599. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.09.015. Epub 2021 Oct 2.
Cancer cells exhibit higher proliferation rates than normal cells, and as a consequence, a higher nutritional demand for metabolites such as amino acids. Such cells demonstrate high expression of amino acid transporters and are significantly dependent on the external uptake of amino acids. Moreover, some types of cancer cells exhibit oncogenic mutations that render them auxotrophic to certain amino acids. This metabolic difference between tumor and normal cells has been explored for developing anticancer drugs. Enzymes capable of depleting certain amino acids in the bloodstream can be employed to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and promote cell death. Certain microbial enzymes, such as l-asparaginase and l-amino acid oxidases, have been studied for this purpose. In this paper, we discuss the role of l-asparaginase, the only enzyme currently used as a chemotherapeutic agent. We also review the studies on a new potential antineoplastic agent, l-lysine α-oxidase, an enzyme of l-amino acid oxidase family.
癌细胞的增殖速度比正常细胞快，因此对代谢物（如氨基酸）的需求也更高。这些细胞表现出高水平的氨基酸转运蛋白表达，并严重依赖于外部氨基酸的摄取。此外，某些类型的癌细胞存在致癌突变，使其对某些氨基酸产生营养缺陷型。肿瘤细胞和正常细胞之间的这种代谢差异已被用于开发抗癌药物。能够耗尽血液中某些氨基酸的酶可用于抑制癌细胞的增殖并促进细胞死亡。为此目的，已经研究了某些微生物酶，如 l-天冬酰胺酶和 l-氨基酸氧化酶。在本文中，我们讨论了 l-天冬酰胺酶的作用，l-天冬酰胺酶是目前唯一用作化疗药物的酶。我们还回顾了一种新的潜在抗肿瘤药物 l-赖氨酸 α-氧化酶的研究进展，l-赖氨酸 α-氧化酶是 l-氨基酸氧化酶家族的一种酶。
