Why has glucose uptake capacity been the focus of so much attention?
Diabetes Research
Typically, diabetes is caused by decreased insulin secretion and responsiveness. When insulin binds to insulin receptors on the cell membranes of muscle cells or adipocytes, glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) translocates from vesicles to the cell membrane via signal transduction, which enhances the cellular uptake of glucose. In the case of diabetes, cellular uptake of glucose is inhibited. Therefore, glucose uptake capacity is one of the important indicators in the field of diabetes research.
Cancer Research
In order to maintain active cell growth, cancer cells rapidly take in and metabolize large amounts of nutrients such as glucose to synthesize proteins and produce energy such as ATP. In addition, even under unfavorable conditions for cells (hypoxia and low nutrition), cancer cells can survive by altering their metabolic system. Therefore, in recent years, research to elucidate the metabolic system of cancer cells has been actively pursued.
Anticancer Drug/Cancer Immunity
Since cancer cells mainly use the glycolysis to produce ATP, the development of anticancer drugs that inhibit glucose transporters (GLUTs), the target proteins of the glycolysis, is underway in the field of drug discovery (right figure). In addition, in the field of cancer immunology, it has been reported that low glucose status in the tumor microenvironment causes a decrease in immune cell function as a result of enhanced glucose uptake by aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells.
