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MicroRNAs and Energy Metabolism in Cancer Cells

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Book cover MicroRNAs: Key Regulators of Oncogenesis

Abstract

In 1927, Otto Warburg demonstrated that cancer cells use glucose for growth and division in a manner that is different from normal cells, a phenomenon known nowadays as Warburg Effect. To date, overwhelming evidence indicates that aberration in metabolism plays important roles in cancer progression. More recently, for more than a decade biologists are fascinated by the functions of small RNAs known as microRNAs (miRNAs), which play vital roles in many important biological processes, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, EMT/MET transition, cell signaling, response to infection, induction of pluripotent stem cells and cell metabolism. As discussed in other excellent chapters of this book, the roles of miRNAs in cancer development have been extensively studied. Here in this chapter, we will discuss the significance of miRNAs in regulating cancer cell metabolism. Specifically, we will focus on the roles of miRNAs in mediating metabolism of three major energy substrates including glucose, lipid and glutamine metabolism in cancer development.

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Acknowledgments

Our work is supported in part by National Basic Key Research Program of China (2014CB910600, 2011CBA01103 and 2012CB910104), National Nature Science Foundation of China (31171385 and 31071257). H.Z is supported by Chinese Government “1000 Youth Talent Program”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China

    Linchong Sun, Xiaoping He, Yang Cao, Ping Gao & Huafeng Zhang

  2. Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Ping Gao

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  1. Linchong Sun
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  2. Xiaoping He
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  3. Yang Cao
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  4. Ping Gao
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Correspondence to Ping Gao or Huafeng Zhang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Molec. Genetics, Fac. of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Sadegh Babashah

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Sun, L., He, X., Cao, Y., Gao, P., Zhang, H. (2014). MicroRNAs and Energy Metabolism in Cancer Cells. In: Babashah, S. (eds) MicroRNAs: Key Regulators of Oncogenesis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03725-7_4

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