Fatty acids – from energy substrates to key regulators of cell survival, proliferation and effector function

Cell Stress

卷:4

Danilo Cucchi¹  Valentina Pucino²  Michelangelo Certo²  Claudio Mauro²  Anna Nicolaou³  Dolores Camacho-Muñoz³ 

[1] Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.;

[2] Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham B15 2WB, UK.;

[3] Laboratory for Lipidomics and Lipid Biology, Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Health sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK.;

关键词: fatty acids;    immune cells;    t cells;    cancer cells;    metastasis;    cancer immunology;   

DOI  :  10.15698/cst2020.01.209

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Recent advances in immunology and cancer research show that fatty acids, their metabolism and their sensing have a crucial role in the biology of many different cell types. Indeed, they are able to affect cellular behaviour with great implications for pathophysiology. Both the catabolic and anabolic pathways of fatty acids present us with a number of enzymes, receptors and agonists/antagonists that are potential therapeutic targets, some of which have already been successfully pursued. Fatty acids can affect the differentiation of immune cells, particularly T cells, as well as their activation and function, with important consequences for the balance between anti- and pro-inflammatory signals in immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular conditions. In the context of cancer biology, fatty acids mainly provide substrates for energy production, which is of crucial importance to meet the energy demands of these highly proliferating cells. Fatty acids can also be involved in a broader transcriptional programme as they trigger signals necessary for tumorigenesis and can confer to cancer cells the ability to migrate and generate distant metastasis. For these reasons, the study of fatty acids represents a new research direction that can generate detailed insight and provide novel tools for the understanding of immune and cancer cell biology, and, more importantly, support the development of novel, efficient and fine-tuned clinical interventions. Here, we review the recent literature focusing on the involvement of fatty acids in the biology of immune cells, with emphasis on T cells, and cancer cells, from sensing and binding, to metabolism and downstream effects in cell signalling.

【 授权许可】

Unknown