Evaluating the Metabolic Impact of Hypoxia on Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Abstract

Hypoxia is frequently observed in human cancers and induces global metabolic reprogramming that includes an increase in glucose uptake and glycolysis, alterations in NAD(P)H/NAD(P)⁺ and intracellular ATP levels, and increased utilization of glutamine as the major precursor for fatty acid synthesis. In this chapter, we describe in detail various physiological assays that have been adopted to study the metabolic shift propagated by exposure to hypoxic conditions in pancreatic cell culture model that includes glucose uptake, glutamine uptake, and lactate release by pancreatic cancer cell lines. We have also elaborated the assays to evaluate the ratio of NAD(P)H/NAD(P)⁺ and intracellular ATP estimation using the commercially available kit to assess the metabolic state of cancer cells.

Keywords: ATP estimation; Cancer metabolism; Glucose uptake; Glutamine uptake; HIF; Hypoxia; Lactate release; NADPH/NADP+ ratio; Pancreatic cancer.