TCA Cancer Research Results

TCA, Krebs/Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type: enzymes
Tricarboxylic Acid (TCA) cycle, also known as the Citric Acid cycle or Krebs cycle, is a key metabolic pathway that plays a central role in cellular energy production.
The TCA cycle is a series of chemical reactions that occur in the mitochondria and involve the breakdown of acetyl-CoA, a molecule produced from the breakdown of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The TCA cycle produces:
1. NADH and FADH2
2. ATP
3. GTP
Expression of TCA cycle enzymes is often downregulated in cancer cells.

Since cancer cells often exhibit rewired metabolism, including alterations in the use of the TCA cycle, researchers are exploring potential therapeutic interventions that target metabolic enzymes or pathways.
TCA cycle is essential for normal cellular metabolism, its role in cancer is multifaceted. Cancer cells often reprogram their metabolism—including the TCA cycle—to support rapid growth, adapt to hypoxia, and manage oxidative stress. Mutations in key TCA cycle enzymes generate oncometabolites that further contribute to cancer progression by disrupting normal cellular regulation.

Rather than saying the TCA cycle is globally over- or underexpressed in cancer, it is more accurate to say that cancer cells reprogram the cycle—with selective upregulation of parts important for biosynthesis and survival and mutations or downregulation of other parts—to best support their growth and survival in a challenging microenvironment.

Oncometabolites
-Some metabolites in the Krebs cycle, when accumulated to abnormal levels due to genetic mutations or enzyme deficiencies, are termed “oncometabolites” because they can promote tumorigenesis.
-Mutations in succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) can lead to accumulation of succinate.
-Mutations in fumarate hydratase (FH) result in an accumulation of fumarate.
-Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1 and IDH2) result in a neomorphic enzyme activity that converts α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) to 2-hydroxyglutarate:


Var, Various Cancer: Click to Expand ⟱
Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 overexpression has been noted in various cancers. PI3Ks/AKT pathways are over-activated in several types of cancers.
EGFR altered activity has been noted in various pathological conditions. However, its regulation is an important step in the inhibition of cancer. In this regard, EGCG shows a pivotal role in the inhibition of EGFR activity.
Activating protein-1 transcription factor has been associated with pathogenesis including cancer.
Activation of the sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway is required for the growth of numerous tissues and organs and recent evidence indicates that this pathway is often recruited to stimulate growth of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and to orchestrate the reprogramming of cancer cells via epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). Increased expression of Nanog has been associated with the aggressive nature of certain cancers, highlighting its role in promoting cancer stem cell characteristics.
The aberrant hedgehog (Hh)/GLI signaling pathway causes the formation and progression of a variety of tumors.
The process of cell apoptosis is often accompanied by the destruction of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, which is widely regarded as one of the earliest events in the process of cell apoptosis.
Human malignancies frequently exhibit mutations in the TGF-β pathway, and overactivation of this system is linked to tumor growth by promoting angiogenesis and inhibiting the innate and adaptive antitumor immune responses50.
Several studies have demonstrated that high cyclin D1 expression was observed in cancers including breast, lung, prostate, lymph node and colorectal cancers [23–25].
The oncogene c-myc, which is frequently over-expressed in cancer cells, is involved in the transactivation of most of the glycolytic enzymes including lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) and the glucose transporter GLUT1 [51,52]. Thus, c-myc activation is a likely candidate to promote the enhanced glucose uptake and lactate release in the proliferating cancer cell.
Vimentin is overexpressed in various epithelial cancers, including prostate cancer, gastrointestinal tumors, tumors of the central nervous system, breast cancer, malignant melanoma, and lung cancer. Vimentin’s overexpression in cancer correlates well with accelerated tumor growth, invasion, and poor prognosis; however, the role of vimentin in cancer progression remains obscure.
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are normally induced under environmental stress to serve as chaperones for maintenance of correct protein folding but they are often overexpressed in many cancers, including breast cancer.
Since NQO1 is highly expressed in many solid tumors, including via upregulation of Nrf2, the design of compounds activated by NQO1 and NQO1-targeted drug delivery have been active areas of research.
Since increased Nrf2 gene expression is one of the main mechanisms of cancer cells in resisting chemotherapeutic drugs and survival in oxidative conditions; finding compounds with the ability to suppress Nrf2 gene expression with minimum side effects can be considered an important strategy for increasing the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy.
Overexpression of c-met stimulates proliferation, migration and invasion in various types of cancer including prostate cancer.
Overexpression of TGFα and EGFR by many carcinomas correlates with the development of cancer metastasis, resistance to chemotherapy and poor prognosis.
More than 50% of human cancers have a mutated nonfunctional p53.


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
5257- 3BP,    Tumor Energy Metabolism and Potential of 3-Bromopyruvate as an Inhibitor of Aerobic Glycolysis: Implications in Tumor Treatment
- Review, Var, NA
Glycolysis↓, mt-OXPHOS↓, HK2↓, Cyt‑c↑, Casp3↓, Bcl-2↓, Mcl-1↓, GAPDH↓, LDH↓, PDH↓, TCA↓, GlutaM↓, GSH↓, ATP↓, mitResp↓, ROS↑, ChemoSen↑, toxicity↝,
3156- Ash,    Withaferin A: From ayurvedic folk medicine to preclinical anti-cancer drug
- Review, Var, NA
MAPK↑, p38↑, BAX↑, BIM↑, CHOP↑, ROS↑, DR5↑, Apoptosis↑, Ferroptosis↑, GPx4↓, BioAv↝, HSP90↓, RET↓, E6↓, E7↓, Akt↓, cMET↓, Glycolysis↓, TCA↓, NOTCH1↓, STAT3↓, AP-1↓, PI3K↓, eIF2α↓, HO-1↑, TumCCA↑, CDK1↓, *hepatoP↑, *GSH↑, *NRF2↑, Wnt↓, EMT↓, uPA↓, CSCs↓, Nanog↓, SOX2↓, CD44↓, lactateProd↓, Iron↑, NF-kB↓,
1576- Citrate,    Targeting citrate as a novel therapeutic strategy in cancer treatment
- Review, Var, NA
TCA↓, T-Cell↝, Glycolysis↓, PKM2↓, PFK2?, SDH↓, PDH↓, β-oxidation↓, CPT1A↓, FASN↑, Casp3↑, Casp2↑, Casp8↑, Casp9↑, cl‑PARP↑, Hif1a↓, GLUT1↓, angioG↓, Ca+2↓, ROS↓, eff↓, Dose↓, eff↑, Mcl-1↓, HK2↓, IGF-1R↓, PTEN↑, citrate↓, Dose∅, eff↑, eff↑, eff↑, eff↑,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 3 of 3

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 3

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

Ferroptosis↑, 1,   GPx4↓, 1,   GSH↓, 1,   HO-1↑, 1,   Iron↑, 1,   mt-OXPHOS↓, 1,   ROS↓, 1,   ROS↑, 2,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics

ATP↓, 1,   mitResp↓, 1,   SDH↓, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis

citrate↓, 1,   CPT1A↓, 1,   FASN↑, 1,   GAPDH↓, 1,   GlutaM↓, 1,   Glycolysis↓, 3,   HK2↓, 2,   lactateProd↓, 1,   LDH↓, 1,   PDH↓, 2,   PFK2?, 1,   PKM2↓, 1,   TCA↓, 3,   β-oxidation↓, 1,  

Cell Death

Akt↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 1,   BAX↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   BIM↑, 1,   Casp2↑, 1,   Casp3↓, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   Casp8↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 1,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   DR5↑, 1,   Ferroptosis↑, 1,   MAPK↑, 1,   Mcl-1↓, 2,   p38↑, 1,  

Kinase & Signal Transduction

RET↓, 1,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress

CHOP↑, 1,   eIF2α↓, 1,   HSP90↓, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair

cl‑PARP↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

CDK1↓, 1,   TumCCA↑, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

CD44↓, 1,   cMET↓, 1,   CSCs↓, 1,   EMT↓, 1,   IGF-1R↓, 1,   Nanog↓, 1,   NOTCH1↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   PTEN↑, 1,   SOX2↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 1,  

Migration

AP-1↓, 1,   Ca+2↓, 1,   uPA↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

angioG↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 1,  

Barriers & Transport

GLUT1↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

NF-kB↓, 1,   T-Cell↝, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

BioAv↝, 1,   ChemoSen↑, 1,   Dose↓, 1,   Dose∅, 1,   eff↓, 1,   eff↑, 5,  

Clinical Biomarkers

E6↓, 1,   E7↓, 1,   LDH↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

toxicity↝, 1,  
Total Targets: 78

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

GSH↑, 1,   NRF2↑, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

hepatoP↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 3

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: TCA, Krebs/Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle
1 3-bromopyruvate
1 Ashwagandha(Withaferin A)
1 Citric Acid
Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells
Filter Conditions: Pro/AntiFlg:%  IllCat:%  CanType:26  Cells:%  prod#:%  Target#:818  State#:%  Dir#:1
wNotes=0 sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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