Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Aug 11;11(9):671-7.
doi: 10.1038/nrc3110.

Dysregulated pH: a perfect storm for cancer progression

Bradley A Webb  1 , Michael Chimenti, Matthew P Jacobson, Diane L Barber
Affiliations
Review

Dysregulated pH: a perfect storm for cancer progression

Bradley A Webb et al. Nat Rev Cancer. .

Abstract

Although cancer is a diverse set of diseases, cancer cells share a number of adaptive hallmarks. Dysregulated pH is emerging as a hallmark of cancer because cancers show a 'reversed' pH gradient with a constitutively increased intracellular pH that is higher than the extracellular pH. This gradient enables cancer progression by promoting proliferation, the evasion of apoptosis, metabolic adaptation, migration and invasion. Several new advances, including an increased understanding of pH sensors, have provided insight into the molecular basis for pH-dependent cell behaviours that are relevant to cancer cell biology. We highlight the central role of pH sensors in cancer cell adaptations and suggest how dysregulated pH could be exploited to develop cancer-specific therapeutics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. J Theor Biol. 2010 Dec 7;267(3):461-70 - PubMed
    1. Annu Rev Physiol. 1986;48:363-76 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Sep 13;102(37):13052-7 - PubMed
    1. J Biol Chem. 2009 Jul 24;284(30):20299-310 - PubMed
    1. J Cell Sci. 2006 Apr 15;119(Pt 8):1547-57 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources