Adenosine metabolism in cancer and inflammation – exploitation for therapeutic gain

GPMLS lecture Thursday 16th of June at 10:30-11:30, at Hringsalur, Landspítal - National Hospital (Children´s Hospital).

Speaker: Dr. Gennady G. Yegutkin, MediCity Research Laboratory and InFLAMES Flagship, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Title: Adenosine metabolism in cancer and inflammation – exploitation for therapeutic gain

Adenosine is an evolutionary ancient metabolic regulator linking energy state to physiological processes including immunomodulation and cell proliferation. Tumors create an adenosine-rich immunosuppressive microenvironment through the increased release of ATP from dying and stressed cells and its ectoenzymatic conversion into adenosine. Therefore, the adenosine pathway becomes an important therapeutic target to improve the effectiveness of immune therapies.

I will provide a holistic view of extracellular and intracellular adenosine metabolism as an integrated complex network, and summarize recent data on the underlying mechanisms through which adenosine and its precursors ATP and ADP control cancer immunosurveillance, tumor angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, cancer-associated thrombosis, blood flow, and tumor perfusion. Special attention will be given to differences and commonalities in the purinome of different cancers, heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment, and novel roles of purine-converting enzymes as targets for cancer therapies.