Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan;10(1):6-11.
doi: 10.4168/aair.2018.10.1.6.

Glycolysis and the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway as Novel Targets for Upper and Lower Airway Inflammation

Young Hyo Kim  1   2 , Tsuguhisa Nakayama  2   3 , Jayakar Nayak  2
Affiliations
Review

Glycolysis and the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway as Novel Targets for Upper and Lower Airway Inflammation

Young Hyo Kim et al. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Glycolysis is a process that rapidly converts glucose to lactate to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) under anaerobic conditions and occurs in all eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. On the other hand, the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) converts glucose to intermediate products like UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, which is critical for post-translational modifications of proteins, such as protein glycosylation. These 2 pathways are well known to contribute to glucose metabolism, but recent studies indicate modulation of these pathways can alter immune system function. In this review article, the authors present results suggesting how cellular metabolism, including glycolysis and the HBP, occurs in immune cells, and the immunologic significances of such activities. In addition, they provide a review of the literature on the effects of glycolysis and the HBP on various autoimmune, immunologic, and allergic diseases. Finally, the authors briefly introduce the results of their research on the immunologic effects of HBP supplementation (glucosamine) in animal models of allergic disease.

Keywords: Glycolysis; allergy; hexosamine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no financial or other issues that might lead to conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure
Figure. Schematic of glycolysis and the HBP. HBP, hexosamine biosynthetic pathway.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Araujo L, Khim P, Mkhikian H, Mortales CL, Demetriou M. Glycolysis and glutaminolysis cooperatively control T cell function by limiting metabolite supply to N-glycosylation. Elife. 2017;6:e21330. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Warburg O, Wind F, Negelein E. The metabolism of tumors in the body. J Gen Physiol. 1927;8:519–530. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu W, Zhang B, Hu Q, Qin Y, Xu W, Shi S, et al. A new facet of NDRG1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: suppression of glycolytic metabolism. Int J Oncol. 2017;50:1792–1800. - PubMed
    1. Xu D, Jin J, Yu H, Zhao Z, Ma D, Zhang C, et al. Chrysin inhibited tumor glycolysis and induced apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting hexokinase-2. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2017;36:44. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wells L, Vosseller K, Hart GW. Glycosylation of nucleocytoplasmic proteins: signal transduction and O-GlcNAc. Science. 2001;291:2376–2378. - PubMed