The findings of the study provide new insights into ways to use cell metabolism to pull the plug on tumor cells that survive treatment possibly leading to better treatments and outcomes for patients. Research assistant professor Carol Mercer said Cells adapt to nutrient starvation by increasing autophagy where a cell basically eats itself and recycles cellular contents to support essential processes until nutrients become plentiful once again. This process is regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and AMP-activated protein kinases (AMPK). Mercer principal investigator on the study and her lab worked primarily in cultured cells to understand how
