| First Author | Tabata S | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | Cell Rep | Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 7 | Pages | 1313-1321 |
| PubMed ID | 28514652 | Mgi Jnum | J:256228 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6103313 | Doi | 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.04.061 |
| Citation | Tabata S, et al. (2017) Thymidine Catabolism as a Metabolic Strategy for Cancer Survival. Cell Rep 19(7):1313-1321 |
| abstractText | Thymidine phosphorylase (TP), a rate-limiting enzyme in thymidine catabolism, plays a pivotal role in tumor progression; however, the mechanisms underlying this role are not fully understood. Here, we found that TP-mediated thymidine catabolism could supply the carbon source in the glycolytic pathway and thus contribute to cell survival under conditions of nutrient deprivation. In TP-expressing cells, thymidine was converted to metabolites, including glucose 6-phosphate, lactate, 5-phospho-alpha-D-ribose 1-diphosphate, and serine, via the glycolytic pathway both in vitro and in vivo. These thymidine-derived metabolites were required for the survival of cells under low-glucose conditions. Furthermore, activation of thymidine catabolism was observed in human gastric cancer. These findings demonstrate that thymidine can serve as a glycolytic pathway substrate in human cancer cells. |
