Waste Not, Want Not: Lactate Oxidation Fuels the TCA Cycle Inmaculada Martínez-Reyes, Navdeep S. Chandel  Cell Metabolism  Volume 26, Issue 6, Pages 803-804 (December 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.11.005 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Circulating Lactate Is a Primary Carbon Source to Replenish the TCA Cycle in Normal and Cancer Cell Mitochondria In the Cori cycle, muscle produces lactate by anaerobic glycolysis. Circulating lactate travels to the liver, where it is converted back to glucose by gluconeogenesis. Normal and cancer cells in different tissues uptake lactate from the blood to feed the mitochondrial TCA cycle. Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) and GLUT import lactate and glucose from the circulation to the inside of the cell, respectively. Pyruvate can be produced by glycolysis or by oxidation of lactate to enter the TCA cycle in mitochondria. Lactate might be imported and converted to pyruvate inside the mitochondria to feed the TCA cycle. The metabolic intermediates generated in glycolysis and mitochondria are essential to sustain tumor growth and proliferation through the synthesis of macromolecules. Cell Metabolism 2017 26, 803-804DOI: (10.1016/j.cmet.2017.11.005) Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions