Fig. 1: β-OHB promotes the proliferation of lipid-starved cancer cells.
a, Schematic of β-OHB metabolism and 13C labelling derived from [U-13C]-β-OHB. AcAc, acetoacetate; OAA, oxaloacetate. b, Immunoblot for BDH1, OXCT1 and vinculin in the indicated cancer cell lines. c, Proliferation rates of the indicated cancer cell lines grown in high or low glucose conditions, with or without 5 mM β-OHB. d, Proliferation rates of the indicated cancer cell lines grown in lipid-replete versus lipid-depleted culture media, with or without 5 mM β-OHB. e,f, Proliferation rates of the indicated cancer cell lines grown in lipid-depleted media, with or without 5 mM β-OHB and 0.3 µM of the FASN inhibitor GSK2194069 (e) or 25 µM of the cholesterol synthesis inhibitor simvastatin (f). Data are presented as means; error bars, s.e.m.; n = 3 biologically independent replicates. Comparisons were made using a two-way ANOVA (c–f).
