Gigin Lin1, Helen Troy1, Lauren
Elizabeth Jackson1, Ian R. Judson2, John R. Griffiths3,
Dow-Mu Koh1, Simon P. Robinson1, Martin O. Leach1,
Yuen-Li Chung1
1CRUK & EPSRC Cancer Imaging
Centre, Institute of Cancer Research & Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton,
Surrey, United Kingdom; 2CRUK Centre of Cancer Therapeutics Unit,
Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, Surrey,
United Kingdom; 3CRUK Cambridge Research Institute, Li Ka Shing
Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Autophagy is a stress response whereby cellular organelles are sequestered for lysosomal degradation as an alternate energy source. Our study suggests a distinct metabolic profile of autophagy present across different cell lines and treatments. An increased level of several amino acids was observed that might result from degradation of cellular organelles and proteins. Reduced phosphocholine and increased glycerophosphocholine levels indicate changes in membrane metabolism, which might relate to the formation and/or degradation of the double-membrane autophagosomes. Metabolomic analysis of autophagy provides a distinct metabolic profile, which may potentially be used as a non-invasive surrogate biomarker.