Flipping a citrate switch on liver cancer cells.

Energy homeostasis and oncogenic signaling are critical determinants of the growth of human liver cancer cells, providing a strong rationale to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms for these systems. A new study reports that loss of solute carrier family 13 member 5, which transports citrate across cell membranes, halts liver cancer cell growth by altering both energy production and mammalian target of rapamycin signaling in human liver cancer cell lines and in both an in vitro and in vivo model of liver tumors, suggesting a new target for liver cancer chemoprevention and/or chemotherapy.