Identifying common metabolic networks altered by glutamine depletion in breast and pancreatic cancer cells

Motivation: Glutamine plays essential roles in tumor growth and response to treatment. Goal(s): To understand the impact of Gln depletion on cancer metabolism, we characterized metabolic alterations in pancreatic and breast cancer cells under Gln deprivation . Approach: We used 1H MRS to understand the metabolic reprogramming caused by glutamine depletion in two pancreatic and two breast cancer cell lines. Results: The changes in metabolism were accompanied by a significant reduction of cancer cell viability. Glutathione and succinate commonly decreased. We also observed, a significant increase of total choline, glycerophosphocholine and choline that may represent an adaptive metabolic response of cancer cells to glutamine depletion. Impact: Targeting glutamine metabolism may offer a promising therapeutic approach, as acute glutamine depletion induces significant metabolic reprogramming in PDAC and breast cancer cells.