Serine-Glycine-One-Carbon Metabolism: The Hidden Achilles Heel of MYCN-Amplified Neuroblastoma?

In this issue of Cancer Research, Xia and colleagues show that MYC-induced metabolic reprograming results in dependency on the serine-glycine-one-carbon (SGOC) metabolic pathway in neuroblastoma. This occurs through MYCN and ATF4 activation of the SGOC biosynthetic pathway in MYCN-amplified cells. Furthermore, inhibition of de novo serine synthesis generates metabolic stress in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cells, causing cell-cycle arrest and autophagy. Together, these data suggest that the SGOC pathway is an attractive therapy target in neuroblastoma.See related article by Xia et al., p. 3837. ©2019 American Association for Cancer Research.