Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

METASTASIS

Fatty acid synthesis enables brain metastasis

Nature Cancer volume 2, pages 374–376 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Cancer cells need to adapt their metabolic state to different microenvironments, particularly during metastatic spread, when they are exposed to the circulatory system as well as the distant organ. Two studies now show that upregulation of fatty acid synthesis is required for the formation of breast cancer metastasis in the lipid-poor environment of the brain.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Upregulation of de novo fatty acid synthesis via FASN enables HER2+ breast cancer cells to grow in the lipid-deprived microenvironment of the brain.

References

  1. Klein, C. A. Nat. Rev. Cancer 20, 681–694 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Elia, I. et al. Nat. Commun. 8, 15267 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ubellacker, J. M. et al. Nature 585, 113–118 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bergers, G. & Fendt, S. M. Nat. Rev. Cancer 21, 162–180 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ferraro, G. B. Nat. Cancer https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-021-00183-y (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jin, X. et al. Nature 588, 331–336 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kim, J. & DeBerardinis, R. J. Cell Metab. 30, 434–446 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rohrig, F. & Schulze, A. Nat. Rev. Cancer 16, 732–749 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ricoult, S. J. & Manning, B. D. EMBO Rep. 14, 242–251 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Shimano, H. & Sato, R. Nat. Rev. Endocrinol. 13, 710–730 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Loftus, T. M. et al. Science 288, 2379–2381 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Savino, A. M. et al. Nat. Can. 1, 998–1009 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zou, Y. et al. Cancer Discov. 9, 1720–1735 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Jiang, X., Stockwell, B. R. & Conrad, M. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-020-00324-8 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Tumor Metabolism and Microenvironment, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

    Felix C. E. Vogel & Almut Schulze

Authors
  1. Felix C. E. Vogel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Almut Schulze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Almut Schulze.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vogel, F.C.E., Schulze, A. Fatty acid synthesis enables brain metastasis. Nat Cancer 2, 374–376 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-021-00202-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-021-00202-y

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer