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Placement and roles of serine and glycine in cancer metabolism

Determine the precise roles and network placement of serine and glycine within cancer cell metabolism, specifying how serine one‑carbon metabolism and glycine incorporation into DNA contribute to tumor growth and how these amino acids integrate into metabolic pathways in cancer.

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Background

The review highlights intensive glutamine utilization in cancer and discusses debate regarding whether glycine or serine is more critical for supporting cancer cell growth. Serine links to one‑carbon metabolism and nucleotide synthesis, while glycine has been observed to incorporate directly into DNA during cancer cell proliferation.

Despite this evidence, the authors note that the precise functional positioning of serine and glycine within cancer metabolism remains unresolved, motivating a need to map their specific contributions and pathway integrations.

References

It is therefore unclear exactly where serine and glycine must be placed in the context of cancer metabolism, although both likely meet some biosynthetic demand.

— Balancing the cellular budget: lessons in metabolism from microbes to cancer (2506.20776 - Vibishan et al., 25 Jun 2025) in Section 3, Cancer’s context: how “normal” is cancer metabolism? (Amino acid metabolism paragraph)