Abstract
The pH in tumour cells and the tumour microenvironment has played important roles in cancer development and treatment. It was thought that both the extracellular and intracellular pH values in tumours are acidic and lower than in normal cells. However, recent progress in the measurement of pH in tumour tissue has disclosed that the intracellular pH (pHi) of cancer cells is neutral or even mildly alkaline compared to normal tissue cells. This review article has summarized the recent advancement in the measurement pHi and extracellular pH (pHe) in cancer cells, and the effect of pHi and pHe on proliferation, migration and biological functions of cancer cells. This paper has also elaborated recent treatment strategies to manipulate pHi and pHe for cancer treatment. Based on the recent progress in pHi and pHe manipulation in cancer treatment, we have proposed potential nanoparticle-based strategies to manipulate pHi and pHe to effectively treat cancer.
Highlights
Cancer is one of the most severe diseases in the world
We have summarized the recent progress on the studies of pHe and pHi in tumour tissues and their corresponding normal tissues
In the tumour cells, the glucose is mostly metabolized through the anaerobic pathway, which produces a large amount of lactate and releases limited energy due to a high level of pyruvate and hypoxia in the tumour environment
Summary
It is widely accepted that the pHe of cancer cells is more acidic than normal cells.[4,5,6] Generally, pHe values of the normal tissues (brain tissues, subcutaneous tissues, etc.) are in the rage of 7.2–7.5. Since Warburg et al rst reported the abnormal anaerobic glycolysis in tumour cells, they measured the glucose and lactic acid in tumor veins and found more lactic acid and less glucose on the tumour tissue than on the normal tissue due to the fermentation process in the tumour side, which may affect pHe and pHi in tumour.[7] it has Guanyu Hao obtained his BS degree in Chemical Biology from Xiamen University (Xiamen, China) in 2015 and Master degree in Biotechnology from The University of Queensland He has been working with Dr Li Li and Professor Zhi Ping Xu at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland since January 2017. The potentials of new strategies using state-of-art nanotechnology to manipulate the pHe/pHi in cancer tissues have been proposed for cancer treatment
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