Tumour amino-acid metabolism reveals a route to suppressing T-cell activity
Published in Diseases!, Immunology, Journals.
Published October 17, 2026.
An October 16 Medical Xpress feature revisits research on how tumours alter amino-acid metabolism to support growth and weaken immune responses. The underlying study by Zhejiang University researchers appeared in Science Immunology on July 24, 2026.
The team identified two complementary changes: increased SLC7A1 activity promoted arginine use and tumour growth, while reduced SLC7A2 activity limited lysine breakdown. The latter change lowered glutaconic acid, a metabolic product that can stimulate cancer-fighting CD8 T cells.
Mechanistic experiments linked glutaconic acid to a chemical modification of the enzyme PKM2, which helped reprogram T-cell metabolism and restore antitumour activity. These findings suggest that tumour metabolism can suppress immunity by reducing useful metabolic products, alongside consuming nutrients.
The recent coverage also describes improved checkpoint-immunotherapy effects when glutaconic acid was added in mouse cancer models. This remains an experimental therapeutic approach. Human tumour associations do not establish that supplementation improves patient outcomes, and the findings provide no basis for changing dietary lysine or arginine intake to treat cancer.
Sources: Yu and colleagues, Science Immunology, July 24, 2026; DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aeb7315; Medical Xpress feature, October 16, 2026.