ArticleNature communications2025
Targeting cancer glutamine dependency with a first-in-class inhibitor of the mitochondrial glutamine transporter SLC1A5_var.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Glutamine metabolism in health and disease.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Targeting MYC-Driven Cancers: From Oncogenic Addiction to Therapeutic Vulnerability.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2026Review
- Macrophage trained immunity requires a mitochondrial glutamine-restriction checkpoint for antitumor protection in mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Metabolism and Immunity-Adapted Radiotherapy (M.I.A.R): A Conceptual Framework for Overcoming the Therapeutic Plateau in Clinical Radiotherapy.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Review
- Review
- Metabolic networks in the tumor microenvironment: roles of amino acid and lipid metabolism pathways in cancer progression and therapy.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Review
- The Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: From Pathogenesis and Drug Resistance to Targeted Therapeutic Strategies.Journal of hepatocellular carcinoma · 2026Review
- Significance of SLC1A5 expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A bioinformatics and in-vitro analysis.Journal of oral biology and craniofacial researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The mitochondrial glutamine transporter SLC1A5_var plays a central role in the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells by facilitating glutamine import into mitochondria for energy production and redox homeostasis. Despite its critical function, the development of effective and selective inhibitors targeting SLC1A5_var has remained a significant challenge. Here, we introduce iMQT_020, a selective allosteric inhibitor identified through structure-based screening. iMQT_020 disrupts the trimeric assembly of SLC1A5_var, causing metabolic crisis in cancer cells and selectively suppressing their growth. Mechanistically, iMQT_020 reduces glutamine anaplerosis and oxidative phosphorylation, resulting in a broad disruption of cancer metabolism. Additionally, iMQT_020 treatment epigenetically upregulates PD-L1 expression, enhancing the efficacy of combination therapies with anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors. These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting SLC1A5_var as a critical metabolic vulnerability in cancer and demonstrate that targeting allosteric interprotomer interactions is a novel and promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.