DUAL ROLE AMPK (ACTIVATED AMP PROTEIN KINASE ) IN CANCER :

Methodology: This complexity stems from culture and in vivo environments differences. For example, in a petri dish, cells are constantly supplied nutrients and oxygen, and a drug dealing with a pathway like AMPK can easily be described. It suggests, that in a petri dish AMPK’s functionality is a pathway that supports catabolism and suppress cell proliferation. However, with a tumor, we know, is in the tumor microenvironment (TME) that has a lack of oxygen, compromised bloodflow, & interactions with the immune as well as stromal cells. In this environment a constantly stimulated AMPK can permit rewire metabolism that favors cell growth, stress resistance, as well as allow survive. For example AMPK can stimulate the entry of glucose to the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) — that is, transform glucose into intermediate which are necessary for the synthesis of nucleotides and is known as NADPH. Furthermore, it can stimulate the process called autophagy, where the cell destroys its own components to recycle the energized nutrient content stored within the cell during a state of starvation.