Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Regional tumour glutamine supply affects chromatin and cell identity

Nature Cell Biology volume 18, pages 1027–1029 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Limited perfusion of solid tumours produces a nutrient-deprived tumour core microenvironment. Low glutamine levels in the tumour core are now shown to lead to reduced levels of α-ketoglutarate and decreased histone demethylase activity, thereby promoting a less differentiated and more therapy-resistant state of the tumour cells.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Glutamine-depleted tumour regions impact cell identity via altered histone methylation.

References

  1. Vander Heiden, M. G., Cantley, L. C. & Thompson, C. B. Science 324, 1029–1033 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Eagle, H. Science 122, 501–514 (1955).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Højfeldt, J. W., Agger, K. & Helin, K. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 12, 917–930 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Yuneva, M. O. et al. Cell Metab. 15, 157–170 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Davidson, S. M. et al. Cell Metab. 23, 517–528 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Pan, M. et al. Nat. Cell Biol. 18, 1090–1101 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Vaupel, P., Kallinowski, F. & Okunieff, P. Cancer Res. 49, 6449–6465 (1989).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kamphorst, J. J. et al. Cancer Res. 75, 544–553 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Alabert, C. et al. Genes Dev. 29, 585–590 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Kooistra, S. M. & Helin, K. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 13, 297–311 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mack, S. C., Hubert, C. G., Miller, T. E., Taylor, M. D. & Rich, J. N. Nat. Neurosci. 19, 10–19 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Magee, J. A., Piskounova, E. & Morrison, S. J. Cancer Cell 21, 283–296 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Rasmussen, K. D. & Helin, K. Genes Dev. 30, 733–750 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Dang, L., Yen, K. & Attar, E. C. Ann. Oncol. 27, 599–608 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hakyemez, B. et al. Clin. Radiol. 60, 493–502 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jonas W. Højfeldt and Kristian Helin are at the Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, University of Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark; at the Centre for Epigenetics, University of Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark; and at the Danish Stem Cell Center (Danstem), Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark,

    Jonas W. Højfeldt & Kristian Helin

  2. at the Centre for Epigenetics, University of Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark

    Jonas W. Højfeldt & Kristian Helin

Authors
  1. Jonas W. Højfeldt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kristian Helin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristian Helin.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Højfeldt, J., Helin, K. Regional tumour glutamine supply affects chromatin and cell identity. Nat Cell Biol 18, 1027–1029 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3414

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3414

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer