ArticleBMC cancer2021
Cell fusion enhances energy metabolism of mesenchymal tumor hybrid cells to sustain their proliferation and invasion.
Article in BMC cancer, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brown Adipocyte Promotes HR+ Breast Cancer Invasiveness Through IRX3-Mediated Mitochondrial Dysfunction.Metabolites · 2026Article
- Cell-Cell Fusion as a Mechanism of Immune Evasion and Metastatic Progression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Glioma cells achieve malignant progression by fusion with macrophages to gain high SLC7A5 expression.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Article
- Cell fusion as a driver of metastasis: re-evaluating an old hypothesis in the age of cancer heterogeneity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Berberine: A dual anti-HIV and anti- cervical cancer compound.Research square · 2024Article
- The immune regulatory function of B7-H3 in malignancy: spotlight on the IFN-STAT1 axis and regulation of tumor-associated macrophages.Immunologic research · 2024Review
- Detection of neoplastic-immune hybrid cells with metastatic properties in uveal melanoma.Biomarker research · 2024Article
- How Much Do You Fuse? A Comparison of Cell Fusion Assays in a Breast Cancer Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Mitochondrial DNA-targeted therapy: A novel approach to combat cancer.Cell insight · 2023Review
- You complete me: tumor cell-myeloid cell nuclear fusion as a facilitator of organ-specific metastasis.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Review
- Tumor Hybrid Cells: Nature and Biological Significance.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCell-to-cell fusion is emerging as a key element of the metastatic process in various cancer types. We recently showed that hybrids made from the spontaneous merging of pre-malignant (IMR90 E6E7, i.e. E6E7) and malignant (IMR90 E6E7 RST, i.e. RST) mesenchymal cells recapitulate the main features of human undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), with a highly rearranged genome and increased spreading capacities. To better characterize the intrinsic properties of these hybrids, we investigated here their metabolic energy profile compared to their parents.
resultsOur results unveiled that hybrids harbored a Warburg-like metabolism, like their RST counterparts. However, hybrids displayed a much greater metabolic activity, enhancing glycolysis to proliferate. Interestingly, modifying the metabolic environmental conditions through the use of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carbox-amide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR), an activator of the 5'-adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK), specifically reduced the growth of hybrids, and also abrogated the invasive capacity of hybrids displaying enhanced glycolysis. Furthermore, AICAR efficiently blocked the tumoral features related to the aggressiveness of human UPS cell lines.
conclusionAltogether, our findings strongly suggest that hybrids rely on higher energy flux to proliferate and that a drug altering this metabolic equilibrium could impair their survival and be potentially considered as a novel therapeutic strategy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.