Nutritional cues regulate pancreatic tumor's 'cell drinking'

(Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute) Desperate for nutrients, rapidly growing pancreatic tumors resort to scavenging 'fuel' through an alternative supply route, called macropinocytosis. Blocking this process, often described as 'cellular drinking,' could lead to tumor-starving drugs. Now, scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys have identified a signaling pathway that regulates macropinocytosis, the nutritional cue that triggers the process and key metabolic differences between tumors -- revealing new directions for drug development and patient treatment. The findings were published in Developmental Cell.
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news