Cellular distribution of phosphofructokinase activity and implications to metabolic regulation in human breast cancer

• Published in: Molecular genetics and metabolism Vol. 79; no. 4; pp. 294 - 299
• Main Authors: El-Bacha, Tatiana, de Freitas, Marta Sampaio, Sola-Penna, Mauro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-08-2003
• Subjects: Actins - metabolism; Breast - enzymology; Breast Neoplasms - enzymology; Cancer; Carcinoma, Ductal - enzymology; Cellular distribution; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Human; Humans; Metabolism; Neoplasm Metastasis; Phosphofructokinase; Phosphofructokinases - metabolism; Cellular distribution; Human; Metabolism; Phosphofructokinase; Cancer
• ISSN: 1096-7192; 1096-7206
• DOI: 10.1016/S1096-7192(03)00117-3

Neoplastic cells generally present profound changes in glucose metabolism. The mechanisms underlying such process are numerous and all may involve altered cellular hormonal responses. Here we report the first evidence that cellular location of phosphofructokinase activity in human breast cancer tissues is different from the one observed in control tissues and that this phenomenon may be involved in the increased glycolytic flux observed in those cells. Through co-sedimentation techniques, we observed that 60% of phosphofructokinase activity in neoplastic tissues is located in an actin-enriched fraction, against 36% in control tissues. Additionally, metastatic tumor tissues presented a two fold increase in this particulate activity when compared to non-metastatic tumor samples. We propose that the alteration in cellular distribution of phosphofructokinase activity in human breast cancer tissues is a mechanism associated to the process of cell transformation and may be a consequence of the altered hormonal milieu observed in several types of cancer.