0000000000267398
AUTHOR
S Di Franco
Recreational and small-scale fisheries may pose a threat to vulnerable species in coastal and offshore waters of the western Mediterranean
10 pages, 3 figures, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz071
Betulinic acid induces a novel cell death pathway that depends on cardiolipin modification
Cancer is associated with strong changes in lipid metabolism. For instance, normal cells take up fatty acids (FAs) from the circulation, while tumour cells generate their own and become dependent on de novo FA synthesis, which could provide a vulnerability to target tumour cells. Betulinic acid (BetA) is a natural compound that selectively kills tumour cells through an ill-defined mechanism that is independent of BAX and BAK, but depends on mitochondrial permeability transition-pore opening. Here we unravel this pathway and show that BetA inhibits the activity of steroyl-CoA-desaturase (SCD-1). This enzyme is overexpressed in tumour cells and critically important for cells that utilize de n…