Nutritional cues regulate pancreatic tumor’s ‘cell drinking’

Desperate for nutrients, rapidly growing pancreatic tumors resort to scavenging ‘fuel’ through an alternative supply route, called macropinocytosis. Blocking this process, often described as ‘cellular drinking,’ could lead to tumor-starving drugs. Now, scientists have identified a signaling pathway that regulates macropinocytosis, the nutritional cue that triggers the process and key metabolic differences between tumors — revealing new directions for drug development and patient treatment.