The Function of PKM2 in Tumorigenesis and Its Activity Regulation

Abstract: The tumor cells can transfer glucose to metabolites required for cell metabolism and proliferation through aerobic glycolysis， such as nucleotides， amino acids， lipids， as well as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Pyruvate kinase， one of the rate-limiting enzymes in the glycolytic pathway， catalyzes the substrate phosphoenolpyruvicacid to be transformed into pyruvate. One of its four isozymes， pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2)， is consisted of four subunits. It can exist in forms of monomer， dimer， trimer or tetramer. PKM2 tetramer is the most active form which motivates glucose to be totally oxidized， producing ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. Nevertheless PKM2 dimer prones to promote the glucose aerobic glycolysis， which is commonly observed in tumor cells named the Warburg effect. The balance between PKM2 dimer and tetramer， which is modulated by a series of regulating factors， plays an important role in tumorigenesis. In this review， we briefly introduce the function of PKM2 in tumorigenesis and its activity regulation.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2015.04.0019