Hexokinase-Ⅱ role in tumor growth and targeting therapy / 国际肿瘤学杂志

The energy for tumor cells mainly derives from the aerobic glycolysis,that is,the Warburg effect,which also provides a large amount of precursor substances for the growth of tumor cells.Hexokinase-Ⅱ (HK-Ⅱ),highly expressed in tumor tissue,is the rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis and closely related to the energy metabolism of tumor.Recent studies have showed that HK-Ⅱ not only mediates Warburg effect,but also promotes tumor proliferation by inhibiting tumor cell apoptosis and regulating autophagy.It has been confirmed that blocking HK-Ⅱ gene expression and inhibiting HK-Ⅱ with small molecule inhibitor can kill tumor cells in many kinds of cancer.Agent targeting HK-Ⅱ may become a new generation of targeted drugs.