Abstract
In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in metabolic changes of cancer cells as it has been noticed that malignant transformation and metabolic reprogramming are closely intertwined. The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is one of the fundamental components of cellular metabolism crucial for cancer cells. This review will discuss recent findings regarding the involvement of PPP enzymes in several types of cancer, with a focus on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We will pay considerable attention to the involvement of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, the rate-limiting enzyme of the PPP. Subsequently, we discuss the inhibition of the PPP as a potential therapeutic strategy against cancer, in particular, HCC.
Highlights
Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing interest in tumor metabolism and, in particular, glucose metabolism
This review will summarize the observations regarding the involvement of the phosphate pathway (PPP) in cancer, in particular the role of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and its relevance for possible therapeutic approaches
In the oxidative arm of the PPP, which is a major source of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and ribulose-5-phosphate (Ru5P), the first of three irreversible reactions initiates when G6P is dehydrogenated by G6PD, to yield NADPH and 6-phosphogluconolactone
Summary
Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing interest in tumor metabolism and, in particular, glucose metabolism. Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of interest in cancer metabolism, as it became evident that multiple signaling pathways, affected by genetic mutations and/or the tumor microenvironment, have a deep impact on tumor cell metabolism. These metabolic alterations constitute a selective advantage for tumor growth, proliferation, and survival as they provide support to the crucial needs of tumor cells, such as increased energy production, macromolecular biosynthesis, and maintenance of redox balance [7,8,9]. This review will summarize the observations regarding the involvement of the PPP in cancer, in particular the role of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and its relevance for possible therapeutic approaches
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