Metabolic Competition of Glucose and Mannose in A549 Lung Cancer Cells

Cancer cells are known to have a voracious appetite for sugars and other nutrients to sustain their rapid growth and proliferation. In this project, two hexose sugars glucose and the structurally similar mannose were investigated as metabolic fuels for the proliferation and growth of A549 lung cancer cells. 10 mM [1-13C] glucose and 10 [1-13C] mannose were first administered individually in cultured A549 lung cancer cells under standard complete media incubated under normoxic conditions for 24 hrs. Furthermore, metabolic competition of these sugars was examined by administering 10 mM [1-13C] glucose + 10 mM unlabeled mannose or 10 mM [1-13C] mannose + 10 mM unlabeled glucose in A549 cells incubated for 24 hrs. Lactate productions from those 4 sugar sample preparations were compared and analyzed via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The details of these NMR results will be discussed in light of possible metabolic competition between the 2 sugars.