Energy metabolism is significantly reprogrammed in many human cancers, and these alterations confer many advantages to cancer cells, including the pro- motion of biosynthesis, ATP generation, detoxification and suppor...Energy metabolism is significantly reprogrammed in many human cancers, and these alterations confer many advantages to cancer cells, including the pro- motion of biosynthesis, ATP generation, detoxification and support of rapid proliferation. The pentose phos- phate pathway (PPP) is a major pathway for glucose catabolism. The PPP directs glucose flux to its oxi- dative branch and produces a reduced form of nico- tinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), an essential reductant in anabolic processes. It has become clear that the PPP plays a critical role in regulating cancer cell growth by supplying cells with not only ribose-5-phosphate but also NADPH for detoxification of intracellular reactive oxygen species, reductive biosynthesis and ribose biogenesis. Thus, alteration of the PPP contributes directly to cell pro- liferation, survival and senescence. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that the PPP is regulated oncogenically and/or metabolically by numerous fac- tors, including tumor suppressors, oncoproteins and intracellular metabolites. Dysregulation of PPP flux dramatically impacts cancer growth and survival. Therefore, a better understanding of how the PPP is reprogrammed and the mechanism underlying the balance between glycolysis and PPP flux in cancer will be valuable in developing therapeutic strategies targeting this pathway.展开更多
基金We apologize to those authors whose excellent work could not be cited due to space constraints. This work was supported by the Start-Up Package Fund from Tsinghua University to J.P. and the grant (Grants No. 2010CB912804 and 31030046 to WM) from National Natural Science Foundation of China.
文摘Energy metabolism is significantly reprogrammed in many human cancers, and these alterations confer many advantages to cancer cells, including the pro- motion of biosynthesis, ATP generation, detoxification and support of rapid proliferation. The pentose phos- phate pathway (PPP) is a major pathway for glucose catabolism. The PPP directs glucose flux to its oxi- dative branch and produces a reduced form of nico- tinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), an essential reductant in anabolic processes. It has become clear that the PPP plays a critical role in regulating cancer cell growth by supplying cells with not only ribose-5-phosphate but also NADPH for detoxification of intracellular reactive oxygen species, reductive biosynthesis and ribose biogenesis. Thus, alteration of the PPP contributes directly to cell pro- liferation, survival and senescence. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that the PPP is regulated oncogenically and/or metabolically by numerous fac- tors, including tumor suppressors, oncoproteins and intracellular metabolites. Dysregulation of PPP flux dramatically impacts cancer growth and survival. Therefore, a better understanding of how the PPP is reprogrammed and the mechanism underlying the balance between glycolysis and PPP flux in cancer will be valuable in developing therapeutic strategies targeting this pathway.