How Does the Salvage Pathway Contribute to Cancer Progression?
While the de novo pathway is crucial, the salvage pathway also plays a significant role in cancer by recycling nucleotides from degraded DNA and RNA. This pathway allows cancer cells to maintain nucleotide pools efficiently, especially under nutrient-limiting conditions or when de novo synthesis is inhibited. Enzymes like hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) are integral to this process and can be potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
