title: The sweet trap in tumors: aerobic glycolysis and potential targets for therapy.
abstract: Metabolic change is one of the hallmarks of tumor, which has recently attracted a great of attention. One of main metabolic characteristics of tumor cells is the high level of glycolysis even in the presence of oxygen, known as aerobic glycolysis or the Warburg effect. The energy production is much less in glycolysis pathway than that in tricarboxylic acid cycle. The molecular mechanism of a high glycolytic flux in tumor cells remains unclear. A large amount of intermediates derived from glycolytic pathway could meet the biosynthetic requirements of the proliferating cells. Hypoxia-induced HIF-1α, PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway, and many other factors, such as oncogene activation and tumor suppressor inactivation, drive cancer cells to favor glycolysis over mitochondrial oxidation. Several small molecules targeting glycolytic pathway exhibit promising anticancer activity both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we will focus on the latest progress in the regulation of aerobic glycolysis and discuss the potential targets for the tumor therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liantang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shangwu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006019:Glycolysis; D006801:Humans; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D005947:Glucose; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt; D010100:Oxygen; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: Warburg effect; aerobic glycolysis; glucose metabolism; targets for the tumor therapy