Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Cell Biology Volume 2013, Article ID 242513, 11 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/242513 Review Article PKM2, a Central Point of Regulation in Cancer Metabolism Nicholas Wong,1,2,3,4 Jason De Melo,1,2,3,4 and Damu Tang1,2,3,4 1 Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4L8 2 Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4L8 3 Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 4A6 4 The Hamilton Center for Kidney Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 4A6 Correspondence should be addressed to Damu Tang;
[email protected] Received 2 December 2012; Revised 11 January 2013; Accepted 13 January 2013 Academic Editor: Claudia Cerella Copyright © 2013 Nicholas Wong et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Aerobic glycolysis is the dominant metabolic pathway utilized by cancer cells, owing to its ability to divert glucose metabolites from ATP production towards the synthesis of cellular building blocks (nucleotides, amino acids, and lipids) to meet the demands of proliferation. The M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (PKM2) catalyzes the final and also a rate-limiting reaction in the glycolytic pathway. In the PK family, PKM2 is subjected to a complex regulation by both oncogenes and tumour suppressors, which allows for a fine-tone regulation of PKM2 activity.