Monocarboxylate Transporters

Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) constitute a family of proton-linked plasma membrane transporters that carry molecules having one carboxylate group (monocarboxylates), such aslactate and pyruvate, across biological membranes. Highly malignant tumors rely heavily on aerobic glycolysis (metabolism of glucose to lactic acid even under ample tissue oxygen; Warburg Effect) and thus need to efflux lactic acid via MCTs to the tumor micro-environment to maintain a robust glycolytic flux and to prevent the tumor from being "pickled to death". The MCTs have been successfully targeted in pre-clinical studies using RNAi and a small-molecule inhibitor alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (ACCA; CHC) to show that inhibiting lactic acid efflux is a very effective therapeutic strategy against highly glycolytic malignant tumors.