Page 1
Page 1
Oncogenes Meet Metabolism : From Deregulated Genes to a Broader Understanding of Tumour Physiology
In 1920s, Otto Warburg described the phenomenon of ‘aerobic glycolysis’, the ability of tumour cells to convert glucose to lactate in the presence of normal oxygen conditions. Warburg’s hypothesis of an altered metabolism in cancer cells found no immediate acceptance, though it was latter confirmed for most human tumours. With the advent of molecular biology the focus in tumour research has shifted towards the search for oncogenes. However, the interest in cancer molecular profiling eventually led to a renaissance of the Warburg effect trying to combine genetic alterations with effects on metabolism with the help of modern analytic technologies to rapidly analyze broad varieties of metabolites in various tissues and bodyfluids (metabonomics).
Metabolome Analyses : Strategies for Systems Biology
Metabolome Analyses is intended as a follow-up to Metabolic Profiling: Its Role in Biomarker Discovery and Gene Function Analysis (Kluwer, 2003). That text offered guidelines to currently available technology, bioinformatics and databases. Evidence was presented showing metabolic profiling as a valuable addition to genomics and proteomics strategies devoted to drug discovery and development. This book focuses on how metabolic profiling is being more comprehensively integrated with the other "omics" technologies. It provides more practical applications of such "panomics" or "Systems Biology" approaches. The expanding use of mass spectrometry as a measurement technology in metabolic profiling is addressed through demonstrated applications. The integration of metabolic profiling and proteomics is probably most developed for plant-based studies, which was not addressed in Volume 1. Other areas related to metabolic profiling continue to show significant development. These include database strategies and an increased acceptance by the pharmaceutical industry of metabolic profiling. Also covered is the use of in silico metabolic networks. Again the focus is primarily on the pharmaceutical industry but the importance of metabolic profiling to studies on human nutrition (a burgeoning area) is discussed.
