BCAT1 and acute myeloid leukemia: The following are the main ways that abnormalities in amino acid metabolism encourage AML formation and immune escape: metabolism of branched-chain amino acids: Branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1 (BCAT1), which is particularly abundantly expressed in AML stem cells, catalyzes the breakdown of BCAAs to produce α-ketoglutarate (αKG), which promotes DNA hypermethylation and keeps leukemic stem cells (LSCs) self-renewing.