Back to article: Metastatic-initiating cells and lipid metabolism
FIGURE 1: Diagram summarizing key aspects of metastatic-initiating cells identified in a variety of human tumours. Metastatic-initiating cells are characterized by their high expression of the fatty acid transporter CD36 and a prominent lipid metabolism. This makes metastatic cells highly responsive and sensitive to dietary fatty acids, such as palmitic acid, and dependent on the activity of CD36 to metastasize to different organs (i.e. lymph nodes, lungs, liver, bone).