Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-2-10
pubmed:abstractText
An efficient regulation of fuel metabolism in response to internal and environmental stimuli is a vital task that requires an intact carnitine system. The carnitine system, comprehensive of carnitine, its derivatives, and proteins involved in its transformation and transport, is indispensable for glucose and lipid metabolism in cells. Two major functions have been identified for the carnitine system: (1) to facilitate entry of long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria for their utilization in energy-generating processes; (2) to facilitate removal from mitochondria of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids that accumulate as a result of normal and abnormal metabolism. In cancer patients, abnormalities of tumor tissue as well as nontumor tissue metabolism have been observed. Such abnormalities are supposed to contribute to deterioration of clinical status of patients, or might induce cancerogenesis by themselves. The carnitine system appears abnormally expressed both in tumor tissue, in such a way as to greatly reduce fatty acid beta-oxidation, and in nontumor tissue. In this view, the study of the carnitine system represents a tool to understand the molecular basis underlying the metabolism in normal and cancer cells. Some important anticancer drugs contribute to dysfunction of the carnitine system in nontumor tissues, which is reversed by carnitine treatment, without affecting anticancer therapeutic efficacy. In conclusion, a more complex approach to mechanisms that underlie tumor growth, which takes into account the altered metabolic pathways in cancer disease, could represent a challenge for the future of cancer research.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Mar
pubmed:issn
0021-9541
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
182
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
339-50
pubmed:dateRevised
2005-11-16
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Cancer and anticancer therapy-induced modifications on metabolism mediated by carnitine system.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute of Protein Biochemistry and Enzymology (I.B.P.E.) CNR, Naples, Italy. peluso@dafne.ibpe.na.cnr.it
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review