ArticleCancer & metabolism2013
The metabolic demands of cancer cells are coupled to their size and protein synthesis rates.
Article in Cancer & metabolism, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 110 papers.
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Who cites it
110 citing papers in PubMed, 186 citations in OpenAlex.
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- MicroRNA 15a and 16 Regulate Proteostasis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.FASEB bioAdvances · 2026Article
- PHGDH phosphorylation mediated by WNK1 serves as a dual marker of metabolic vulnerability and responsiveness to oxaliplatin treatment.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
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- Liquid biopsy - a narrative review with an update on current US governmental clinical trials targeting immunotherapy.Future science OA · 2025Review
- Basal metabolic rate shapes the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Establishment of cell size-dependent growth rate via differential scaling of metabolite uptake and release.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
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- Novel reporter of the PINK1-Parkin mitophagy pathway identifies its damage sensor in the import gate.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- AGR2 knockdown induces ER stress and mitochondria fission to facilitate pancreatic cancer cell death.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular cell research · 2025Article
- APT imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma signals an effective therapeutic response in advance of tumor shrinkage.Hepatic oncology · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial Mixture Based on Micronized Kaolinite and Ziziphora Essential Oil as a Promising Formulation for the Management of Infected Wounds.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- TOPAS-Tissue: A Framework for the Simulation of the Biological Response to Ionizing Radiation at the Multi-Cellular Level.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Challenges of Spatially Resolved Metabolism in Cancer Research.Metabolites · 2024Review
- Differential effects of translation inhibitors onLife science alliance · 2024Article
- The integrated on-chip isolation and detection of circulating tumour cells.Sensors & diagnostics · 2024Review
50 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough cells require nutrients to proliferate, most nutrient exchange rates of the NCI60 panel of cancer cell lines correlate poorly with their proliferation rate. Here, we provide evidence indicating that this inconsistency is rooted in the variability of cell size.
resultsWe integrate previously reported data characterizing genome copy number variations, gene expression, protein expression and exchange fluxes with our own measurements of cell size and protein content in the NCI60 panel of cell lines. We show that protein content, DNA content, and protein synthesis per cell are proportional to the cell volume, and that larger cells proliferate slower than smaller cells. We estimate the metabolic fluxes of these cell lines and show that their magnitudes are proportional to their protein synthesis rate and, after correcting for cell volume, to their proliferation rate. At the level of gene expression, we observe that genes expressed at higher levels in smaller cells are enriched for genes involved in cell cycle, while genes expressed at higher levels in large cells are enriched for genes expressed in mesenchymal cells. The latter finding is further corroborated by the induction of those same genes following treatment with TGFβ, and the high vimentin but low E-cadherin protein levels in the larger cells. We also find that aromatase inhibitors, statins and mTOR inhibitors preferentially inhibit the in vitro growth of cancer cells with high protein synthesis rates per cell.
conclusionsThe NCI60 cell lines display various metabolic activities, and the type of metabolic activity that they possess correlates with their cell volume and protein content. In addition to cell proliferation, cell volume and/or biomarkers of protein synthesis may predict response to drugs targeting cancer metabolism.
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Registered trials
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