Fuel Economy for Growing Cells: Sophisticated 21st-century analyses of the signaling pathways that control cell growth have led researchers back to the seminal work of Otto Warburg, who discovered in the 1920s that tumor cells generate their energy in an unusual way—by switching from mitochondrial respiration to glycolysis. The advantage conferred by this metabolic switch is puzzling because mitochondrial respiration is a more efficient way to produce ATP. Vander Heiden et al. (p. 1029 ) review arguments that rapidly growing cells have critical metabolic requirements that extend beyond ATP and that a better understanding of these requirements may shed new light on the “Warburg effect” and ultimately lead to new therapies for cancer.

Phosphorylated lipids are produced at cellular membranes during signaling events and contribute to the recruitment and activation of various signaling components. The role of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), which catalyzes the production of phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate, in cell survival pathways; the regulation of gene expression and cell metabolism; and cytoskeletal rearrangements are highlighted. The PI3K pathway is implicated in human diseases including diabetes and cancer, and understanding the intricacies of this pathway may provide new avenues for therapuetic intervention.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib are effective treatments for lung cancers with EGFR activating mutations, but these tumors invariably develop drug resistance. Here, we describe a gefitinib-sensitive lung cancer cell line that developed resistance to gefitinib as a result of focal amplification of the MET proto-oncogene. inhibition of MET signaling in these cells restored their sensitivity to gefitinib. MET amplification was detected in 4 of 18 (22%) lung cancer specimens that had developed resistance to gefitinib or erlotinib. We find that amplification of MET causes gefitinib resistance by driving ERBB3 (HER3)–dependent activation of PI3K, a pathway thought to be specific to EGFR/ERBB family receptors. Thus, we propose that MET amplification may promote drug resistance in other ERBB-driven cancers as well.

Mutations in the enzyme cytosolic isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) are a common feature of a major subset of primary human brain cancers. These mutations occur at a single amino acid residue of the IDH1 active site, resulting in loss of the enzyme’s ability to catalyse conversion of isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate. However, only a single copy of the gene is mutated in tumours, raising the possibility that the mutations do not result in a simple loss of function. Here we show that cancer-associated IDH1 mutations result in a new ability of the enzyme to catalyse the NADPH-dependent reduction of α-ketoglutarate to R(-)-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG). Structural studies demonstrate that when arginine 132 is mutated to histidine, residues in the active site are shifted to produce structural changes consistent with reduced oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate and acquisition of the ability to convert α-ketoglutarate to 2HG. Excess accumulation of 2HG has been shown to lead to an elevated risk of malignant brain tumours in patients with inborn errors of 2HG metabolism. Similarly, in human malignant gliomas harbouring IDH1 mutations, we find markedly elevated levels of 2HG. These data demonstrate that the IDH1 mutations result in production of the onco-metabolite 2HG, and indicate that the excess 2HG which accumulates in vivo contributes to the formation and malignant progression of gliomas.