23/09/2026
🔬 How does the tumour microenvironment help cancer cells survive?
Our latest research (driven by Mona Nazemi, PhD, together with Bian Yanes, PhD, Eric Vancauwenberghe, PhD, Ife Oyelade, Ph.D, AFHEA and Heather Walker) reveals how collagen I, a major component of the fibrotic tumour microenvironment, helps breast and pancreatic cancer cells adapt to nutrient deprivation.
We found that collagen I activates α2β1 integrin–mTORC1 signalling and promotes membrane localisation of the LAT1-4F2hc amino acid transporter, helping cancer cells maintain essential amino acid supply and suppress autophagy under glucose starvation.
Importantly, inhibiting either α2β1 integrin or LAT1-4F2hc reduced cancer cell growth and invasion in both 2D and 3D models.
LAT1-4F2hc was also significantly elevated in basal-like breast and pancreatic cancers, where higher expression was associated with poorer prognosis and drug resistance.
Together, our findings highlight amino acid transport as a potential therapeutic vulnerability in highly fibrotic, nutrient-deprived tumours. A fascinating reminder that cancer biology is not just about the tumour cells themselves — the environment they inhabit can fundamentally shape how they survive and behave.
We are very grateful to Cancer Research UK (CRUK) for funding our work and to PLOS Biology for a very positive editorial process.
Full paper available here:
How do invasive breast and pancreatic cancer cells thrive in collagen-rich environments under nutrient stress? This study shows that collagen I promotes mTORC1 activation and drives the localisation of the LAT1-4F2hc amino acid transporter in the membrane, ensuring a sustained intracellular amino ac...
