Profiling the Energy Metabolism at the Cell Subpopulation Level

Abstract

Although being a complex pathology with genetic as well as non-genetic etiologies, cancer is characterized by a limited series of hallmarks including energetic metabolism reprogramming [1]. Long ago O. Warburg unraveled a bias of tumor metabolism in favor of glycolysis, the socalled Warburg effect. Indeed, tumor cells display both an increase in glucose uptake and fermentation of glucose to lactate [2]. Since these pioneering works, different alterations of tumor metabolism were reported such as deregulated uptake of glutamine or new modes of nutrient acquisition [3]. In general, cancer cells exhibit a high rate of proliferation due to constitutive anabolism and catabolism activation. Moreover, by competing for nutrients, inducing hypoxia and releasing inhibitory molecules in tumor microenvironment (TME), tumors dramatically affect immune cell metabolism [4].