Pancreatic cancers rely on a novel glutamine metabolism pathway to maintain redox balance

In order for a cell to dupli-cate, it must double its genome, protein content and lipid mass. This process requires energy in the form of ATP and NADPH. However, unlike ATP, the amount of NADPH required for biosyn-thesis is much greater than that needed for homeostasis, which makes the genera-tion of NADPH rate limiting for cellular proliferation. NADPH is used for both macromolecular biosynthesis (e.g., lipids and deoxynucleotide triphosphates) and the maintenance of a reduced intracellular environment.