Glutamine is thought to play an important role in cancer cells by being deaminated via glutaminolysis to α-ketoglutarate (aKG) to fuel the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Supporting this notion, aKG supplementation can restore growth/survival of glutamine-deprived cells. However, pancreatic cancers are often poorly vascularized and limited in glutamine supply, in alignment with recent concerns on the significance of glutaminolysis in pancreatic cancer. Here, we show that aKG-mediated rescue of glutamine-deprived pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) cells requires glutamate ammonia ligase (GLUL), the enzyme responsible for de novo glutamine synthesis. GLUL-deficient PDAC cells are capable of the TCA cycle but defective in aKG-coupled glutamine biosynthesis and subsequent nitrogen anabolic processes. Importantly, GLUL expression is elevated in pancreatic cancer patient samples and in mouse PDAC models. GLUL ablation suppresses the development of KrasG12D-driven murine PDAC. Therefore, GLUL-mediated glutamine biosynthesis couples the TCA cycle with nitrogen anabolism and plays a critical role in PDAC.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
5
3%
Other
11
7%
Unknown
65
43%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 24. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 August 2025.
All research outputs
#2,016,581
of 34,147,617 outputs
Outputs from Cell Reports
#4,079
of 16,704 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#33,112
of 393,610 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cell Reports
#112
of 313 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,147,617 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 94th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 16,704 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 26.9. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 393,610 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 313 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 64% of its contemporaries.
