Metabolic alterations in highly tumorigenic glioblastoma cells: preference for hypoxia and high dependency on glycolysis.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies suggest that a small subpopulation of malignant cells with stem-like properties is resistant to chemotherapy and may be responsible for the existence of residual cancer after treatment. We have isolated highly tumorigenic cancer cells with 100-fold increase in tumor initiating capacity from the tumor xenografts of human glioblastoma U87 cells in mice. These cells exhibit stem-like properties and show unique energy metabolic characteristics including low mitochondrial respiration, increased glycolysis for ATP generation, and preference for hypoxia to maintain their stemness and tumor forming capacity. Mechanistically, mitochondrial depression in the highly tumorigenic cells occurs mainly at complex II of the electron transport chain with a down-regulation of the succinate deh

SUBMITTER: Zhou Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3173179 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature