A new method developed by Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) and University of California, Riverside provides new insights into cancer biology by allowing researchers to show how fatty acids are absorbed by single cells.
Fatty acids, along with glucose and amino acids, are a major energy source for cellular growth and proliferation, and abnormal fatty acid metabolism is often seen in cancer. Dr. Wei Wei’s lab at ISB and Dr. Min Xue’s lab at UC Riverside have been collaborating for years to develop a series of chemical probes and analytical approaches for quantifying cellular glucose uptake, lactate production, amino acid uptake, and other cancer-related metabolites.
Unlike glucose and amino acids, however, the mechanisms underlying the uptake of fatty acids into cells have been lesser known and difficult to discern. The technical tools for measuring fatty acid uptake at the…
