Lucia U, Deisboeck TS. The importance of ion fluxes for cancer proliferation and metastasis: A thermodynamic analysis.
J Theor Biol 2018;
445:1-8. [PMID:
29474857 DOI:
10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.02.019]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 02/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Following a thermodynamic approach, we develop a new theoretical analysis of ion transfer across cell membranes. Supported also by experimental data from the literature, we highlight that ion channels determine the typical features of cancer cells, i.e. independence from growth-regulatory signals, avoidance of apoptosis, indefinite proliferative potential, and the capability of inducing angiogenesis. Specifically, we analyse how ion transport, with particular regards to Ca2+ fluxes, modulates cancer cell proliferation, and regulates cell cycle checkpoints. Finally, our analysis also suggests that in malignant tumours aerobic glycolysis is the more efficient metabolic process when taking the required solvent capacity into account.
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