Nuclear magnetic resonance study of the Leloir pathway in cancer cells

The LeLoir pathway is a cellular metabolic pathway for the processing of galactose into glucose-1-phosphate which is then converted into glucose-6-phosphate for use in glycolysis. Traditionally, galactose is processed in the liver, kidney, and gut. However, significant metabolism of galactose has been found in breast and glioblastoma cancers. In preliminary trials, we examined the metabolism of galactose in Colo-205 and LoVo colorectal cancer cells, SFXL Glioblastoma cells, and Miapaca2 pancreatic cancer cells. When adding 5mM of [1-13C] Galactose to complete media, we saw a small but noticeable boost in the C3 lactate carbon in Colo-205, SFXL, and Miapaca2 cancer cells, but negligible increases in LoVo. Additionally, we tested the response of the cells to a 2% O2 hypoxic environment using a 5% CO2 hypoxia incubator. In these trials we found another small boost in lactate. These NMR results will be discussed together with other supporting data.