Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,203 studies31 sourcesUpdated 25 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDJournal of translational medicine

Methionine addiction in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a metabolic vulnerability targeted by engineered bacteria.

  • Chenxi Li1,2,3,4
  • Yan Chen5
  • Zhengye Wang6
  • Zhongcheng Gong7,8
  • Yuchen Ni9
9 affiliations
  1. 1Cancer Research Institute, The Third Teaching Hospital, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Translational Biomedical Engineering, No. 789 Soochow East Street, Urumqi, 830011, China. [email protected].
  2. 2Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology & Surgery, School / Hospital of Stomatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, National Clinical Medical Research Institute, Stomatological Research Institute of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, 830054, China. [email protected].
  3. 3Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Stomatological Translational Medicine, Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China. [email protected].
  4. 4Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China. [email protected].
  5. 5Department of Preventive Dentistry, School / Hospital of Stomatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830054, China.
  6. 6Division of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Urumqi, 830092, China.
  7. 7Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology & Surgery, School / Hospital of Stomatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, National Clinical Medical Research Institute, Stomatological Research Institute of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, 830054, China.
  8. 8College of General Practice, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830017, China.
  9. 9Division of Medical Affairs, The Third Teaching Hospital, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, No. 789 Soochow East Street, Urumqi, 830011, China. [email protected].
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Metabolic reprogramming is a defining hallmark of malignant transformation, and tumor-specific amino acid addiction has emerged as a promising therapeutic axis for precision oncology. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is an aggressive head and neck malignancy marked by limited curative options, frequent recurrence, and poor long-term survival. Cumulative multi-omics and clinical evidence consistently confirm widespread methionine addiction across OSCC lesions, yet conventional systemic methionine restriction strategies are hampered by severe off-target organ toxicity and insufficient tumor selectivity. Engineered attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain SGN1 represents a tumor microenvironment-homing live biotherapeutic platform that achieves localized intratumoral methionine degradation with minimal systemic perturbation. Preclinical data across immunocompetent murine models and patient-derived organoids demonstrate robust anti-OSCC activity alongside controllable antibiotic-mediated clearance and broad systemic biosafety. This Commentary contextualizes SGN1 within the broader landscape of microbe-mediated amino acid depletion therapies, systematically dissects the core metabolic mechanisms underpinning OSCC methionine addiction, elaborates preclinical efficacy and safety profiles of SGN1, expands critical discussion of translational bottlenecks, and outlines structured clinical development frameworks for live bacterial metabolic therapeutics. By integrating comparative analysis of arginine and tryptophan-targeted microbial interventions, this work provides balanced, forward-looking insights to advance stratified, minimally invasive precision treatment for methionine-addicted OSCC and other solid tumors.

Related

  1. Intestinal molecular siphoning by engineered bacterial spores for non-systemic treatment of nicotine addiction
    X. Xiong, R. Zhu, Y. Han +4
    bioRxivPreprintCC BY-NCFull textSystems & synthetic biologybioRxiv
  2. Immunometabolic synaptopathy: linking metabolic syndrome to epileptogenesis through trained immunity and parvalbumin interneuron vulnerability
    Baihui Zhang, Wenjin Wang, Tao Li +1
    Frontiers in cellular neurosciencePeer-reviewedCC BYFull textNeuroscienceEurope PMC
  3. G9a/GLP inhibition during ex vivo lymphocyte expansion increases in vivo cytotoxicity of engineered T cells against hepatocellular carcinoma
    Maxine S. Y. Lam, Jose Antonio Reales-Calderon, Jin Rong Ow +15
    Nature CommunicationsPeer-reviewedCC BYFull text26 citedImmunologyHAL
  4. Neutrophil elastase-mediated myoepithelial loss is a therapeutic vulnerability in ductal carcinoma in situ progression
    Tarek Taifour, Yu Gu, Adéline Massé +19
    Cell Reports MedicinePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textImmunologyPMC
  5. Functional redundancy between atypical CDKs reveals a vulnerability in hepatocellular carcinoma
    Diego Martínez-Alonso, Enrique Nogueira, Luis R. López-Sainz +21
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textCell biologyPMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{li2026methionine,
  title = {{Methionine addiction in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a metabolic vulnerability targeted by engineered bacteria.}},
  author = {Chenxi Li and Yan Chen and Zhengye Wang and Zhongcheng Gong and Yuchen Ni},
  journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1186/s12967-026-08710-0},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958387},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Methionine addiction in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a metabolic vulnerability targeted by engineered bacteria.
AU  - Chenxi Li
AU  - Yan Chen
AU  - Zhengye Wang
AU  - Zhongcheng Gong
AU  - Yuchen Ni
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/03
JO  - Journal of translational medicine
DO  - 10.1186/s12967-026-08710-0
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958387
AB  - Metabolic reprogramming is a defining hallmark of malignant transformation, and tumor-specific amino acid addiction has emerged as a promising therapeutic axis for precision oncology. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is an aggressive head and neck malignancy marked by limited curative options, frequent recurrence, and poor long-term survival. Cumulative multi-omics and clinical evidence consistently confirm widespread methionine addiction across OSCC lesions, yet conventional systemic methionine restriction strategies are hampered by severe off-target organ toxicity and insufficient tumor selectivity. Engineered attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain SGN1 represents a tumor microenvironment-homing live biotherapeutic platform that achieves localized intratumoral methionine degradation with minimal systemic perturbation. Preclinical data across immunocompetent murine models and patient-derived organoids demonstrate robust anti-OSCC activity alongside controllable antibiotic-mediated clearance and broad systemic biosafety. This Commentary contextualizes SGN1 within the broader landscape of microbe-mediated amino acid depletion therapies, systematically dissects the core metabolic mechanisms underpinning OSCC methionine addiction, elaborates preclinical efficacy and safety profiles of SGN1, expands critical discussion of translational bottlenecks, and outlines structured clinical development frameworks for live bacterial metabolic therapeutics. By integrating comparative analysis of arginine and tryptophan-targeted microbial interventions, this work provides balanced, forward-looking insights to advance stratified, minimally invasive precision treatment for methionine-addicted OSCC and other solid tumors.
SN  - 1479-5876
ER  -