Mouse Astrocytes are Able to Regulate Energy Metabolism Through the Warburg Effect Similar to Cancer Cells

In Warburg effect, an aerobic glycolysis, tumor cells tend to absorb glucose and secrete lactate in the presence of oxygen to provide the energy needed for the growth in nutrient-poor conditions. Previous studies have shown that fetal cells behave like cancer cells. Based on those researches, we examined the Warburg effect in cultured fetal astrocytes isolated from the newborn mouse brain of C57BL/6 by creating a condition similar to cancer cells to induce cell starvation.
Subjects and Astrocytes were cultured in DMEM/ FBS 10% and starvation was induced during the subculture for the period of 16, 48 and 72 hr. At the end glucose, lactate secretion and intracellular LDH activity were measured by a colorimetric method.
Glucose consumption was increased to 42% after 48 hr of starvation (P Lactate production and secretion acts as a necessary source of energy and also a chemical component for signaling to other cells similar to what happen in the tumor cells. Since we provided a condition like tumor cells environment for astrocytes, it is concluded that astrocetes, like other cells, can mimic Warburg effect and this lead to a better understanding of tumor cell metabolism concepts to design of novel therapeutic strategies to target these cells in the brain.