What does lactic acid do to the body?
Lactic acid is produced when the body breaks down carbohydrates in low oxygen levels to generate energy. It is mainly found in muscle cells and red blood cells. An example of lactic production is when we perform intense exercise.
Glucose, glutamine, fatty acids, and amino acids are well-known energy sources for cell growth and division. In the past, lactic acid has been known as a by-product of glycolysis, a process in which glucose is broken down through several enzyme reactions without the involvement of oxygen. However, recent studies showed that lactic acid is a key player in cancer cells to regulate tumor cell growth and division, blood vessel formation, and invasion. The tumor cells prefer to use glycolysis to produce energy and lactic acid despite the abundance of oxygen levels. Lactic acid is an alternative fuel source for glucose-deprived tumors to avoid cell death.
Lactic acid is transported through the membrane via the monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1). A research group at Columbia University led by Dr. Markus Siegelin in the department of Pathology and Cell Biology showed a substantial presence of lactic acid in the citric acid cycle (TCA cycle), a series of chemical reactions to generate energy, in the glioblastoma cells cultured in the nutrient deprivation condition (low glucose and glutamine concentration). When the glucose and/or glutamine concentrations increased, less lactic acid was involved in the TCA-cycle metabolites. The uptaken lactic acid in the TCA-cycle was traced by using a method called C13 carbon tracing and was analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the structure of different molecules. The researchers concluded that lactic acid is used as a fuel source to generate the energy in the brain tumor cells. Furthermore, lactic acid is converted to Actetyl-CoA and contributed to the gene modification in glioblastoma cells (Figure 1). These novel findings were published in a prestigious journal, Molecular Cell.
Figure 1: Role of lactic acid in the epigenetic modification of glioblastoma cells. Lactic acid is transported to the membrane via the monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) and contributed to the TCA cycle as a fuel source to generate the energy. Lactic acid is converted to Actetyl-CoA and contributed to the gene modification in glioblastoma cells. Suppressing the TCA cycle by using the targeted drug, namely CPI-613 (devimistat) leads to the abrogation of lactic acid in the energy production. The figure was generated by Biorender.
From these findings, the authors proposed to use CPI-613 (devimistat) drug, which targets TCA-cycle metabolites (Figure 1), to treat glioblastoma cells. Indeed, CPI-613 showed a suppression of cellular viability in vitro of glioblastoma cells and an extension of the animal survival curve in the mouse model. The authors suggested that the combination of CPI-613 with other standard care treatment in glioblastoma such as temozolomide and radiation could be a potential clinical therapy for patients with glioblastoma.
Read more about this exciting finding here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276522006475
Reviewed by: Pei-Yin Shih, Sam Rossano, Emily Hokett