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Cancer metabolism

NAD kinase essentiality in cancer: in real life, it is all about folates

Nature Metabolism volume 7, pages 1103–1105 (2025)Cite this article

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NAD kinases have a crucial role in the de novo synthesis of the cofactor NADP+ by phosphorylating NAD+ to yield NADP+. A study by Flickinger et al. uses physiologically relevant cell culture media with low folic acid levels and identifies the cytosolic NAD kinase NADK as essential factor for supporting dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) activity and folate-dependent nucleotide synthesis in cancer cells.

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Fig. 1: NADK phosphorylates NAD+ to NADP+.

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  1. Cancer Metabolism Group, Department of Cancer Research, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    Petra Marttila & Johannes Meiser

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  1. Petra Marttila
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  2. Johannes Meiser
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Correspondence to Johannes Meiser.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Marttila, P., Meiser, J. NAD kinase essentiality in cancer: in real life, it is all about folates. Nat Metab 7, 1103–1105 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01270-5

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