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Akt protein boosts cancer metabolism through a two-pronged attack

Mutated forms of the protein Akt can be central drivers of cancer metabolism. A mechanism by which Akt promotes synthesis of the metabolic molecule coenzyme A broadens our understanding of the protein’s activity.
  1. Philipp Poeller

    1. Philipp Poeller is in the Division of Tumor Metabolism and Microenvironment, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

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  2. Almut Schulze

    1. Almut Schulze is in the Division of Tumor Metabolism and Microenvironment, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

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The protein Akt is part of a signalling cascade that is frequently activated in human cancer1. In healthy cells, Akt regulates many metabolic processes, including glucose metabolism and the synthesis of fatty acids2. These metabolic programs are enhanced in cancer to support rapid cell division, and so the role of Akt activation in these cancer-related changes is of great interest. Writing in Nature, Dibble et al.3 show that Akt targets a central point of cellular metabolism, by inducing the synthesis of the metabolic molecule coenzyme A.

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Nature 608, 43-44 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01603-4

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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