Scott Julia S, Nassar Zeyad D, Swinnen Johannes V, Butler Lisa M
Adelaide Medical School and Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA, Australia.
Precision Cancer Medicine Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Mol Cancer Res. 2022 Sep 2;20(9):1354-1364. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-21-1069.
Cancer cells feature increased macromolecular biosynthesis to support the formation of new organelles and membranes for cell division. In particular, lipids are key macromolecules that comprise cellular membrane components, substrates for energy generation and mediators of inter- and intracellular signaling. The emergence of more sensitive and accurate technology for profiling the "lipidome" of cancer cells has led to unprecedented leaps in understanding the complexity of cancer metabolism, but also highlighted promising therapeutic vulnerabilities. Notably, fatty acids, as lipid building blocks, are critical players in all stages of cancer development and progression and the importance of fatty acid desaturation and its impact on cancer cell biology has been well established. Recent years have seen the reports of new mechanistic insights into the role of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) in cancer, as regulators of cell death and lipid-related cellular signaling. This commentary aims to highlight these diverse roles of MUFAs in cancer cells which may yield new directions for therapeutic interventions involving these important fatty acids.
癌细胞的特点是大分子生物合成增加，以支持为细胞分裂形成新的细胞器和膜。特别是，脂质是关键的大分子，它们构成细胞膜成分、能量产生的底物以及细胞间和细胞内信号传导的介质。用于分析癌细胞“脂质组”的更灵敏、准确技术的出现，在理解癌症代谢复杂性方面带来了前所未有的飞跃，但也突出了有前景的治疗弱点。值得注意的是，脂肪酸作为脂质的组成部分，在癌症发展和进展的所有阶段都是关键因素，并且脂肪酸去饱和作用及其对癌细胞生物学的影响已得到充分证实。近年来，有报道对单不饱和脂肪酸（MUFA）在癌症中的作用有了新的机制性见解，即作为细胞死亡和脂质相关细胞信号传导的调节因子。本评论旨在强调MUFA在癌细胞中的这些不同作用，这可能为涉及这些重要脂肪酸的治疗干预带来新方向。
