Minding the Ls and Qs

As one of the most highly consumed amino acids in cultured cancer cells, glutamine is an attractive target for anti-cancer therapy, and glutaminase inhibitors are currently in clinical trials. In this issue, Ni et al. show that blocking this pathway by targeting the glutamine importer ASCT2 (SLC1A5) decreases tumorigenesis in mouse leukaemia models while largely sparing normal haematopoiesis.