FIGURE 3.

Schematic of amino acid flux by SLC7A11/SLC3A2 in ER− breast cancer cells. The bidirectional amino acid transporter, SLC7A11, interacts with SLC3A2 on the plasma membrane. In ER− breast cancer cells, cystine uptake by SLC7A11 is required for cell proliferation. Highly activated cystine uptake requires glutamate consumption to activate SLC7A11. Glutamine taken in by SLC1A5 is catabolized to glutamate by glutaminase, resulting in the activation of SLC7A11 in ER− breast cancer cells