Figure 1

Major metabolic fates of glucose in highly proliferative cells. Glucose is taken into the cell by GLUT family transporters and then phosphorylated by hexokinases, trapping it within the cell as glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). G6P can be catabolized via glycolysis or used as a carbon donor for the synthesis of riboses via the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Catabolized G6P generates pyruvate plus small quantities of ATP, with much of the resultant pyruvate being converted to lactate by lactate dehydrogenase and then secreted through mono-carboxylic transporters (MCT). The remaining pyruvate is converted to acetyl-CoenzymeA (acetyl-CoA) by pyruvate dehydrogenase and used either as fuel for ATP production via the tri-carboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and oxidative phosphorylation or converted to fatty acids to generate structural lipids. At various points during glycolysis and the TCA cycle reaction intermediates can be removed to provide carbon for amino acid biosynthesis (not shown).