Amino Acids and Their Metabolism in Disease

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules: Proteins, Nucleic Acids and Carbohydrates".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2027 | Viewed by 2574

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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Pediatrics, School of Pharmacy, Aichi-Gakuin University, 1-100 Kusumoto, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8650, Japan
Interests: pediatrics; Kawasaki disease; pentraxin 3; soluble pattern-recognition molecule; cytokines; enzyme preparations; cell death; sensitivity prediction; amino acid requirement; selective toxicity; pediatric hematology/oncology; amino acid metabolism; anticancer drugs; pediatric leukemia; flow cytometry; immunohistochemistry; monoclonal antibodies; asparagine synthetase; l-asparaginase; selective toxicity to cancer cells
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Amino acid metabolism is fundamental to cellular function, influencing protein synthesis, energy production, signaling pathways, and epigenetic regulation. Dysregulation of these pathways contributes to the development and progression of diverse diseases, including cancer, metabolic syndrome, neurological and psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, and immune dysfunction.

This Special Issue seeks to present recent advances in our understanding of the roles of amino acids and their metabolic networks in human disease. We welcome original research and comprehensive reviews addressing the following:

* Mechanistic studies of amino acid metabolic pathways in disease pathophysiology;

* The role of transporters, sensors, and metabolic enzymes as potential therapeutic targets;

* Interactions between amino acid metabolism and the immune system, microbiome, or tumor microenvironment;

* Development of biomarkers or diagnostic tools based on amino acid metabolism;

* Innovative therapeutic approaches, including enzyme inhibition, depletion strategies, or dietary interventions;

* Technological and methodological advances in metabolomics, flux analysis, and systems biology related to amino acid research.

By synthesizing such contributions, this Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the field and stimulate further research into the targeting of amino acid metabolism for improved disease management.

Prof. Dr. Toshiyuki Kitoh
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • amino acid metabolism
  • disease pathophysiology
  • cancer metabolism
  • immunometabolism
  • metabolic reprogramming
  • amino acid transporters
  • therapeutic targeting
  • biomarkers
  • nutrient sensing
  • systems biology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

18 pages, 5230 KB  
Review
From ALL to Myeloid and NK Malignancies: Operationalizing “ASNS-Low” for L-Asparaginase Repurposing and Combination Therapy
by Toshiyuki Kitoh
Biomolecules 2026, 16(6), 792; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom16060792 - 27 May 2026
Viewed by 380
Abstract
L-asparaginase (ASNase) is a paradigmatic amino-acid depletion therapy that induces systemic asparagine starvation and remains foundational in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Amino-acid metabolism constitutes a fundamental therapeutic vulnerability in hematologic malignancies, yet the determinants of response to systemic asparagine depletion remain incompletely defined. [...] Read more.
L-asparaginase (ASNase) is a paradigmatic amino-acid depletion therapy that induces systemic asparagine starvation and remains foundational in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Amino-acid metabolism constitutes a fundamental therapeutic vulnerability in hematologic malignancies, yet the determinants of response to systemic asparagine depletion remain incompletely defined. Asparagine synthetase (ASNS) regulates intracellular asparagine biosynthesis and functions as a stress-responsive metabolic node embedded within adaptive nutrient-sensing pathways. Emerging transcriptomic and proteomic evidence demonstrates that reduced ASNS expression is enriched in biologically distinct subsets of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), particularly those characterized by immature differentiation states and cytogenetic features associated with metabolic fragility, including inv(16) and chromosome 7-associated disease. Clinical experience in natural killer/T-cell (NK/T-cell) neoplasms provides proof-of-principle that enzymatic asparagine depletion can achieve durable therapeutic efficacy in tumors intrinsically dependent on extracellular amino-acid supply, establishing extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) as a mechanistically aligned anchor indication beyond acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Integrative molecular analyses further indicate that ASNS deficiency functions as a permissive rather than deterministic biomarker, with therapeutic response modulated by lineage-specific metabolic wiring, adaptive stress signaling, and microenvironmental nutrient buffering. Advances in protein-anchored diagnostic platforms, including intracellular flow cytometry and quantitative proteomics, now enable operationalization of ASNS as a clinically actionable stratification marker. Mechanistic studies also suggest that amino-acid depletion may interact with apoptotic signaling networks, supporting rational combination strategies with targeted agents such as BCL-2 inhibitors. Collectively, these findings support a conceptual framework in which ASNS-low defines a context-dependent metabolic vulnerability rather than a uniform disease-wide predictor, underscoring the need for prospective biomarker-enriched clinical trials to establish ASNS-guided amino-acid depletion as a precision oncology strategy across heterogeneous myeloid and lymphoid malignancies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Amino Acids and Their Metabolism in Disease)
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24 pages, 2366 KB  
Review
Arginine Transporters in Human Cancers: Emerging Mechanisms and Clinical Implications
by Xi Cai, Li Shang, Yueshuo Li, Ya Cao and Feng Shi
Biomolecules 2026, 16(1), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom16010132 - 12 Jan 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1786
Abstract
Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid for adults, which serves as a central hub synthesizing various metabolites. Arginine plays a critical role in carcinogensis. As a polar amino acid, the uptake and the transportation of arginine across cell membrane systems rely on transporter [...] Read more.
Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid for adults, which serves as a central hub synthesizing various metabolites. Arginine plays a critical role in carcinogensis. As a polar amino acid, the uptake and the transportation of arginine across cell membrane systems rely on transporter proteins. Arginine transporters remain critically important, particularly as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer. Based on the subcellular localization, arginine transporters could be divided into two types: cell membrane arginine transporters and intracellular membrane arginine transporters. This review aims to investigate the latest advancements of arginine transporter proteins in cancer, focusing on their cellular localization, structural characteristics, and mechanism, with the goal of promoting the design and development of targeted anticancer therapeutics against these transporters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Amino Acids and Their Metabolism in Disease)
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