Nature Communications · 7 September 2026 · From issue 33
Glucose-induced histone lactylation confers metformin resistance in colorectal cancer stem cells
In cells and mice, extra sugar let colorectal cancer stem cells dodge a diabetes drug by burning fat instead.
Xiang-Rui Li, Li Deng et al.
In lab and animal studies, cancer stem cells switched their fuel source from sugar to fat when sugar levels were high. This switch let the cells survive a diabetes drug called metformin that is being tested as a cancer treatment. The cells made a chemical tag that turned on a fat-uptake protein, which fed a fat-burning process that kept the cells alive. Blocking either of two key proteins in this chain made the cells sensitive to the drug again.
Shown only in colorectal cancer stem cells grown in high sugar, in lab and animal tests.
Cells and mice only, no human data yet.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 8 September 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature Communications). Read the source
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