†These authors contributed equally.
Academic Editor: Graham Pawelec
Background: The conserved stem cell signaling network canonical
Wingless (WNT) plays important roles in development and disease. Aberrant
activation of this pathway has been linked to tumor progression and resistance to
therapy. Industry and academia have substantially invested in developing
substances, which can efficiently and specifically block the WNT signaling
pathway. However, a clear clinical proof of the efficacy of this approach is
still missing. Studies on the metabolomics dysregulation of cancer cells have led
to innovations in oncological diagnostics. In addition, modulation of cancer cell
metabolome is at the base of promising clinical oncology trials currently
underway. While onco-protein activation can have profound metabolic outcomes, the
involvement of stem cell signals, such as the WNT pathway, in tumor cell
metabolomics is yet insufficiently characterized. Material and methods:
We determined live cell metabolism and bioenergetics in pathophysiological
relevant, WNT-dependent glioblastoma stem cell (GSC) models. We quantified those
parameters in cells with canonical WNT activity and in isogenic cells where WNT
activity had been inhibited by short hairpin RNA against
