Systems-level analysis of cancer metabolism

Abstract

The complexity of cancer requires systems-level approaches to examine uncontrolled proliferation, with many analytical tools now providing massive information on distinct cellular processes. In contrast to the genetic anchors founded in cancer biology that underpin tumor suppressors and oncogenes as units of malignant function, we now see a shift of attention towards metabolism. This trend calls for the increased use of stable isotopic tracers to dissect effects in metabolic fluxes that arise from gene deregulation. When combined with analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and computational tools to interpret such datasets, isotopic tracers can allow for the determination of various metabolic events involved in tumorigenesis at a fine resolution. As such, the interplay between fluxes and signaling warrants a thorough investigation that will lead to targeted therapies rooted on metabolic targets. This chapter describes stable isotopic methods to determine fluxes and identify switches, illustrating how metabolic activity can be quantitatively interpreted to address fundamental questions in cancer.