Post-Transcriptional and Post-Translational Regulation of Cancer Metabolism

Dysregulated metabolism is a common feature of cancer cells and has been recognized as a hallmark of cancer. Metabolic reprogramming confers an adaptive advantage to cancer cells to fulfill the high energetic requirements for survival, rapid proliferation and metastasis. In addition to the widely investigated dysregulated glucose metabolism to fuel cancer cell growth, increasing evidences demonstrate that utilization of amino acids and lipids contributes significantly to cancer cell metabolism. The metabolic phenotype of a given tumor is influenced not only by local microenvironment but also by therapeutic interventions. Metabolic reprogramming results from the dysregulated expression of diverse genes and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA). Malfunctions in regulation of genes and ncRNAs are detrimental to the cell and can lead to the development and progression of cancer. Control of gene expression in mammalian cells occurs at epigenetic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels. miRNAs and lncRNAs have been shown to be involved in several metabolic and tumorigenic pathways through its post-transcriptional regulatory activity. RNA-binding proteins play an important role in regulation of gene expression at post-transcriptional level. Post-translational modifications of key metabolic enzymes, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, and ubiquitination, are also implicated in cancer metabolic reprogramming by stimulating or inhibiting these enzymes. Despite some advancement in the knowledge of molecular mechanisms of cancer metabolism, the regulatory mechanisms of metabolic reprogramming at post-transcriptional and post-translational levels have been only partly elucidated. Thus, the mechanistic studies will not only expand our understanding of cancer metabolic reprogramming but also lay the foundation for novel therapeutic strategies that target post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation in malignant cancers.

This Research Topic aims at furthering our understanding of cancer metabolic reprogramming and molecular mechanisms underlying cancer metabolism at post-transcriptional and post-translational levels.

We welcome the submission of Original Research, Methods, Review and Mini-Review articles that cover, but are not limited to the following topics:

·miRNAs and lncRNAs in cancer metabolism
·RNA-binding proteins in cancer metabolism
·Post-translational modifications of metabolic enzymes
·Post-transcriptional regulation of metabolism by metabolites
·Post-translational regulation of metabolism by metabolites
·Post-transcriptional regulation of metabolism by microenvironment
·Post-translational regulation of metabolism by microenvironment
·New techniques for metabolism and gene expression regulation