Combating anticancer and antibacterial drug resistance by metabolic targeting.

Bacteria and cancer cells activate defense mechanisms driven by central carbon and amino acid metabolism to overcome drug-induced stress.

Drug tolerance and persistence are driven by a dormant state in bacteria, whereas cancer cells upregulate energy metabolism to withstand prolonged drug exposure.

Biofilms, granulomas, and the tumor microenvironment share hypoxic and acidic conditions, where cells rely on anaerobic and lipid metabolism for survival.

Macrophage immunometabolism influences disease progression in tuberculosis and cancer. Common approaches for overcoming drug resistance include blocking metabolic targets that enhance drug lethality and synergistic drug combinations.

Drug repurposing, dietary interventions, and immunotherapy have shown use in cancer, but their antibacterial potential remains underexplored. sciencenewshighlights ScienceMission https://sciencemission.com/Targeting-metabolism-to-combat-anticancer

Drug resistance is a major challenge in cancer and infectious diseases, requiring innovative solutions. Recent research suggests that bacteria and cancer cells reprogram their metabolism and manipulate their external metabolic environment to resist a diverse range of therapeutics. Emerging technologies, including single-cell and spatial omics profiling, CRISPR chemogenomics, machine learning, and metabolic network modeling, have revealed the metabolic complexities within bacterial biofilms, tuberculosis granulomas, and the tumor microenvironment. Here, we examine metabolic mechanisms that aid drug resistance across these different disease areas; this includes activation of antioxidant defenses, manipulation of the host immune response, and rewiring of energy metabolism.