Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 07 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02033-4 How tumour cells rewire metabolic processes in response to changing nutrient availability in the tumour microenvironment is complex. Here, Zhang et al. define a role for PGAM1 in promoting autophagy in response to nutrient deprivation that competes with its catalytic function in glycolysis, which may explain selection for PGAM1 overexpression in cancer.