Cited by 535Cancer, Hypoxia, and MetabolismMitochondrial Function and PathologyBiochemical Acid Research Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 213 of the 215 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 205 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Regulation and function of the mammalian tricarboxylic acid cycle

Open access
Arnold, Paige K., Finley, Lydia W.S.·2023·Journal of Biological Chemistry

Abstract

The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, otherwise known as the Krebs cycle, is a central metabolic pathway that performs the essential function of oxidizing nutrients to support cellular bioenergetics. More recently, it has become evident that TCA cycle behavior is dynamic, and products of the TCA cycle can be co-opted in cancer and other pathologic states. In this review, we revisit the TCA cycle, including its potential origins and the history of its discovery. We provide a detailed accounting of the requirements for sustained TCA cycle function and the critical regulatory nodes that can stimulate or constrain TCA cycle activity. We also discuss recent advances in our understanding of the flexibility of TCA cycle wiring and the increasingly appreciated heterogeneity in TCA cycle activity exhibited by mammalian cells. Deeper insight into how the TCA cycle can be differentially regulated and, consequently, configured in different contexts will shed light on how this pathway is primed to meet the requirements of distinct mammalian cell states.

Overview

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Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review revisits the mammalian tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, covering its evolutionary origins, historical discovery, biochemical wiring, regulation, and context-dependent heterogeneity. It argues that TCA cycle activity is dynamic and can be rewired or co-opted in cancer, immune cells, stem cells, and other mammalian cell states.

Key findings

  • Each complete turn of the TCA cycle oxidizes acetyl-CoA, releases two CO2 molecules, generates three NADH and one FADH2, and produces one GTP or ATP; oxaloacetate (OAA) is regenerated and acts catalytically. The cycle is amphibolic, supporting both catabolism and biosynthesis.
  • Sustained TCA cycle function requires continuous acetyl-CoA supply and anaplerosis to replace intermediates lost through cataplerosis. Acetyl-CoA sources include glucose/pyruvate, circulating lactate, fatty acids, amino acids, ketone bodies, and acetate; anaplerotic routes include glutamine oxidation, pyruvate carboxylase, propionyl-CoA/succinyl-CoA, and fumarate entry.
  • TCA cycle wiring is flexible: reductive carboxylation occurs under hypoxia or impaired respiration; reverse SDH reduces fumarate to succinate when ETC is inhibited; reverse citrate synthase can occur in SDH deficiency; and the citrate–malate shuttle can act as a noncanonical TCA cycle in cancer cells and embryonic stem cells.
  • Regulation occurs through allosteric control (NADH inhibits CS, IDH, and OGDH; ATP/ADP inhibits IDH; succinyl-CoA inhibits CS and OGDH; OAA inhibits SDH), covalent PDHC phosphorylation by PDKs/PDPs, and ion-mediated control (Ca2+ activates IDH, OGDH, and PDHC; iron affects aconitase). TCA metabolites also influence chromatin and cell fate, with oncometabolites succinate, fumarate, and 2HG inhibiting αKG-dependent dioxygenases. Reported examples include branched-chain amino acid catabolism accounting for almost a third of cellular acetyl-CoA pools in differentiated adipocytes, up to half of intramitochondrial acetyl-CoA derived from circulating acetate in glioblastoma tumors, and 2HG accumulating to millimolar levels in CD8+ T cells.

Methods

  • Narrative review; no primary experimental data are presented.
  • Synthesizes historical and recent literature on TCA cycle evolution, discovery, wiring, regulation, and heterogeneity across mammalian cell types and disease contexts.
  • Main analysis is conceptual and integrative, with figures summarizing the oxidative TCA cycle, reductive TCA cycle, inputs/outputs, electron shuttles, PDHC regulation, and chromatin regulation.

Limitations

  • The paper does not include a formal limitations section. It states many open questions and future directions, including how TCA cycle diversity is achieved, the extent to which cells transit between metabolic states, how intermediates are partitioned across compartments, what signals control anaplerotic fluxes, and whether core TCA cycle enzymes are regulated by phosphorylation.
  • Evident from the text: as a narrative review, it lacks systematic search criteria or quantitative synthesis, so its conclusions depend on the selected cited literature.
  • The authors declare a conflict of interest: they are authors on patent applications covering links between cellular metabolism and cell fate control.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102838

Cites

213 of 214 references verified1 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 205 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 99 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 15
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 73
79 of 79
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Mutations that impair FH and SDH activity are associated with pathologic accumulation of fumarate and succinate, respectively.

    “Mutations that impair fumarate hydratase (FH) and SDH activity are associated with pathologic accumulation of substrates fumarate and succinate, respectively.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Acetyl-CoA itself cannot transit across the mitochondrial membrane.

    “Acetyl-CoA itself cannot transit across the mitochondrial membrane.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Most mammalian cells growing in culture rely on both glucose- and glutamine-derived carbon to fuel the TCA cycle.

    “Most mammalian cells growing in culture rely on both glucose- and glutamine-derived carbon to fuel the TCA cycle.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Most cultured cell lines require glutamine supplementation to support cell survival and proliferation.

    “While most cultured cell lines require glutamine supplementation to support cell survival and proliferation, naïve mouse ESCs can grow in the absence of exogenous glutamine.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Adult tissue stem cells maintain organ homeostasis by balancing self-renewal and differentiation into mature cell types.

    “Adult tissue stem cells maintain organ homeostasis by balancing self-renewal and differentiation into mature cell types.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Pluripotency is a state that exists only transiently during early mammalian development.

    “While pluripotency, or the ability to give rise to all embryonic germ layers, is a state that exists only transiently during early mammalian development, it can be modeled indefinitely in vitro using ESCs derived from the inner cell mass of preimplantation blastocysts (210).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Mouse and human ESCs can be cultured under conditions that drive a spectrum of pluripotent states.

    “Mouse and human ESCs can be cultured under conditions that drive a spectrum of pluripotent states, ranging from those that closely mimic the preimplantation state (otherwise known as the “naïve” state) to those that resemble the postimplantation epiblast.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The TCA cycle provides another critical input to chromatin regulation in the form of acetyl-CoA.

    “The TCA cycle provides another critical input to chromatin regulation in the form of acetyl-CoA.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    TCA cycle metabolites can function as messengers facilitating interorgan crosstalk.

    “Beyond their intracellular roles, TCA cycle metabolites can also function as messengers facilitating interorgan crosstalk.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Succinate represents the most established example of a TCA cycle intermediate that serves as a paracrine signal.

    “To date, succinate represents the most established example of a TCA cycle intermediate that serves as a paracrine signal.”
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Citations

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1 of the 215 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Kornberg, 1966, Anapleroic sequences and their role in metabolism, Essays Biochem., 2, 1
  2. Martius, 1937, Physiological breakdown of citric acid, Prelim. Z. Physiol. Chem., 246, 1
  3. Warburg, 1924, Ueber den stoffwechsel der tumoren, Biochem. Z., 152, 319

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Arnold, P. K., & Finley, L. W. S.
Affiliations
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
Corresponding author
Finley, Lydia W.S.
Venue
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2023-02
Volume
299
Issue
2
Pages
102838
ISSN
0021-9258 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4312221298
Cited by
535
References
215
Citations by year
2026: 172 · 2025: 209 · 2024: 120 · 2023: 33
FWCI
11.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Biological Chemistry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Cancer Institute (P30CA008748, R37CA252305)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (F31HD098824)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Biochemical Acid Research Studies
Keywords
TCA cycle, cellular bioenergetics, nutrient oxidation, cancer metabolism, mammalian cells, cell state heterogeneity
MeSH terms
Animals, Citric Acid Cycle, Energy Metabolism, Mammals

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