Margaret E. Torrence

TL;DR: It is suggested that increased whole-body protein breakdown is an early event in development of PDAC, and elevated plasma levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are associated with a greater than twofold increased risk of future pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that tissue of origin is an important determinant of how cancers satisfy their metabolic requirements, and that tissue context defines cancer dependence on specific metabolic pathways is unknown, but despite the same initiating events, these tumors use branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) differently.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that collagen serves as a proline reservoir for PDAC cells to use as a nutrient source when other fuels are limited and that proline oxidase (PRODH1) is required forPDAC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo.

TL;DR: Loss of Bcat1 and Bcat2, the enzymes responsible for BCAA use, impairs NSCLC tumor formation, but these enzymes are not required for PDAC tumorformation, arguing that tissue of origin is an important determinant of how cancers satisfy their metabolic requirements.

TL;DR: Torrence et al. as discussed by the authors found that less than 10% of the genes activated by ATF4 during cellular stress are also activated in response to mTORC1-driven growth.