Aberrant lipid metabolism as an emerging therapeutic strategy to target cancer stem cells: Concise review

Schematic representation of the key processes of lipid metabolism that could be targeted in CSCs and their associated metabolic regulators. AbstractEmerging evidences in cancer metabolomics have identified reprogrammed metabolic pathways to be a major hallmark of cancer, amongst which deregulated lipid metabolism is a prominent field receiving increasing attention. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) comprise<0.1% of the tumour bulk and possess high self ‐renewal, tumour initiating properties, and are responsible for therapeutic resistance, disease recurrence, and tumour metastasis. Hence, it is imperative to understand the metabolic rewiring occurring in CSCs, especially their lipid metabolism, on which there have been recent reports. CSCs rely h ighly upon lipid metabolism for maintaining their stemness properties and fulfilling their biomass and energy demands, ultimately leading to cancer growth and invasion. Hence, in this review we will shed light on the aberrant lipid metabolism that CSCs exploit to boost their survival, which comprise s upregulation inde novo lipogenesis, lipid droplet synthesis, lipid desaturation, and β‐oxidation. Further, the metabolic regulators involved in the process, such as key lipogenic enzymes, are also highlighted. Finally, we also summarise the therapeutic strategies targeting the key regulators involved in CSCs’ lipid metabolism, which thereby demonstrate the potential to develop powerful and novel therapeutics against the CSC lipid metabo...
Source: Stem Cells - Category: Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Cancer Stem Cells Source Type: research