Serine Starvation Modulates mRNA Splicing through Translational Inhibition of SRSF Proteins.

Serine starvation causes significant changes in mRNA splicing by reducing translation of SRSF6 in serine-auxotrophic cancer cells.

• Why it matters: Understanding how serine deprivation affects cancer cell biology is crucial for developing dietary serine starvation as a therapy for serine-dependent tumors.
• What they did: The study used serine-auxotrophic cancer cells to show that serine starvation decreases SRSF6 translation, leading to altered mRNA splicing and impacting DNA damage response and cell survival, with combined splicing modulators and dietary serine starvation inhibiting tumor growth.
• The result: These findings reveal serine's essential role in mRNA splicing regulation and suggest that targeting splicing pathways alongside dietary serine restriction could improve cancer treatment strategies.