Fibroblasts rescue oral squamous cancer cell from metformin-induced apoptosis via alleviating metabolic disbalance and inhibiting AMPK pathway.

ABSTRACT: Metformin is an antidiabetic drug widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Growing evidence suggests that it may exert antitumor effects in vivo and in vitro. However, even with the promising potency on defeating cancer cells, the pre-clinical and epidemiological studies of metformin on various kinds of cancers are not satisfactory, and the reasons and underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Since cancer is a complex system, dependent on a promoting microenvironment, we hypothesize that the interactions between cancer cells and their neighborhood fibroblasts are essential for metformin resistance. To test this, we used a cell co-culture model closely mimicking the in vivo interactions and metabolic exchanges between normal stromal cells (NOFs) and oral squamous cancer cells (OSCC).

SUBMITTER: Zhang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6527302 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature