In contrast to normal differentiated cells, which rely primarily on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to generate the energy needed for cellular processes, most cancer cells instead rely on aerobic glycolysis, a phenomenon termed "the Warburg effect". Aerobic glycolysis is an inefficient way to generate adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP). In the presence of oxygen, most non-proliferating cells in differentiated tissues primarily metabolize glucose to carbon dioxide by oxidation of glycolytic pyruvate in the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. This reaction produces NADH [nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), reduced], which then fuels oxidative phosphorylation to maximize ATP production, with minimal production of lactate. It is only under anaerobic conditions that differentiated cells produce large amounts of lactate. In contrast, most cancer cells produce large amounts of lactate regardless of the availability of oxygen and hence their metabolism is often referred to as “aerobic glycolysis". (PMID:19460998)
CIDeRplus
List all interactions
Display Graph