Anna Rita Cantelmo, Lena-Christin Conradi, Aleksandra Brajic, Jermaine Goveia, Joanna Kalucka, Andreas Pircher, Pallavi Chaturvedi, Johanna Hol, Bernard Thienpont, Laure-Anne Teuwen, Sandra Schoors, Bram Boeckx, Joris Vriens, Anna Kuchnio, Koen Veys, Bert Cruys, Lise Finotto, Lucas Treps, Tor Espen Stav-Noraas, Francesco Bifari, Peter Stapor, Ilaria Decimo, Kim Kampen, Katrien De Bock, Guttorm Haraldsen, Luc Schoonjans, Ton Rabelink, Guy Eelen, Bart Ghesquière, Jalees Rehman, Diether Lambrechts, Asrar B Malik, Mieke Dewerchin, Peter Carmeliet
Abnormal tumor vessels promote metastasis and impair chemotherapy. Hence, tumor vessel normalization (TVN) is emerging as an anti-cancer treatment. Here, we show that tumor endothelial cells (ECs) have a hyper-glycolytic metabolism, shunting intermediates to nucleotide synthesis. EC haplo-deficiency or blockade of the glycolytic activator PFKFB3 did not affect tumor growth, but reduced cancer cell invasion, intravasation, and metastasis by normalizing tumor vessels, which improved vessel maturation and perfusion...
December 12, 2016: Cancer Cell