De Novo Lipogenesis from Glutamine in Human Glioma Cells

Anthony Mancuso¹, Justin R. Cross, Craig B. Thompson

Rapidly growing cancer cells require high rates of phospholipid biosynthesis for the formation of new membranes. Cancer cells produced fatty acids for lipids de novo, primarily from glucose. An improved understanding of the pathways involved in de novo lipogenesis could greatly advance the development of new therapeutics that inhibit cancer cell growth. In this work, FA synthesis from both glucose and glutamine was examined with ¹³C NMR spectroscopy in cultured human glioma cells. Cells were cultured in T-flasks and extracted for high-resolution analysis. The results show that glucose is the primary source for de novo lipogenesis while glutamine contributes ~30%.