Abstract A36: Amino acids rather than glucose accounts for the majority of cell mass in rapidly proliferating mammalian cells

To facilitate growth and division, proliferating cells must duplicate their mass over the cell cycle. Glucose and glutamine are the most consumed nutrients by proliferating mammalian cells, but the extent to which these and other nutrients contribute directly to cell mass has not been investigated. Using isotope labeled nutrients, we quantified the fraction of cell mass derived from different fuels and find that surprisingly neither glucose nor glutamine provide the majority of carbon present in cells. Instead, amino acids, which are consumed at substantially lower rates, together account for the majority of cell mass. While glucose carbon has diverse fates, glutamine is overwhelmingly diverted into protein and its incorporation into cell mass greatly exceeds that of other amino acids, suggesting that glutamine-driven anapleurosis is primarily used for amino acid biosynthesis. Our findings demonstrate that the most heavily consumed nutrients do not make a proportionately large contribution of carbon to macromolecule biosynthesis.Citation Format: Aaron M. Hosios, Vivian C. Hecht, Marc Johnson, Jeffrey C. Rathmell, Scott R. Manalis, Matthew G. Vander Heiden. Amino acids rather than glucose accounts for the majority of cell mass in rapidly proliferating mammalian cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Metabolism and Cancer; Jun 7-10, 2015; Bellevue, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(1_Suppl):Abstract nr A36.
Source: Molecular Cancer Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Cancer Metabolic Pathways: Poster Presentations - Proffered Abstracts Source Type: research