Targeting one-carbon metabolic vulnerabilities of metastasis with therapeutic potential

Which particular signaling pathway is involved in the metastasis of a specific cancer is unclear. Here, we applied metastatic functional screening and identified that one-carbon and SSP metabolism pathways, as well as related genes, are associated with tumor metastasis inhibition.

We engineered the cancer cells with poorly or highly metastatic potential to confirm the metabolism pathways regulating the ability to colonize different tissue sites. We also asked whether the restriction of the metabolism pathways by known inhibitors. We then identified three new compounds that can inhibit the expression of these genes and block tumor metastasis.