Cancer cells require exogenous cysteine for proliferation and survival. In this issue of Nature Metabolism, Zhang et al. demonstrate that deletion of 5-methylthioadenosine phosphorylase promotes the synthesis of polyamines from methionine, thereby conferring sensitivity to cysteine starvation.
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17 February 2021
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-00303-5
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Combs, J.A., DeNicola, G.M. The smell of death and deCYStiny: polyamines play the hero. Nat Metab 2, 995–996 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0260-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-0260-3