Metabolic Silencing via Methionine-Based Amino Acid Restriction in Head and Neck Cancer.

In recent years, various forms of caloric restriction (CR) and amino acid or protein restriction (AAR or PR) have shown not only success in preventing age-associated diseases, such as type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, but also potential for cancer therapy. These strategies not only reprogram metabolism to low-energy metabolism (LEM), which is disadvantageous for neoplastic cells, but also significantly inhibit proliferation. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common tumour types, with over 600,000 new cases diagnosed annually worldwide.

Cysteine Restriction in Murine L929 Fibroblasts as an Alternative Strategy to Methionine Restriction in Cancer Therapy.

Methionine restriction (MetR) is an efficient method of amino acid restriction (AR) in cells and organisms that induces low energy metabolism (LEM) similar to caloric restriction (CR). The implementation of MetR as a therapy for cancer or other diseases is not simple since the elimination of a single amino acid in the diet is difficult. However, the in vivo turnover rate of cysteine is usually higher than the rate of intake through food.

It's a matter of design-how pitfall trap design affects trap samples and possible predictions.

Background: Pitfall traps are commonly used to assess ground dwelling arthropod communities. The effects of different pitfall trap designs on the trapping outcome are poorly investigated however they might affect conclusions drawn from pitfall trap data greatly.

Methods: We tested four pitfall trap types which have been used in previous studies for their effectiveness: a simple type, a faster exchangeable type with an extended plastic rim plate and two types with guidance barriers (V- and X-shaped).