Hexokinase 2 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates mRNA translation independently of glycolysis and induces melanoma cell proliferation.

ABSTRACT: Although metabolic benefits of glycolysis have been extensively described in tumor cells, the extra-metabolic functions linked to this energetic pathway in tumor growth and cell proliferation have not been clearly established yet. Recently, some key glycolytic enzymes, such as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase 2, were reported to regulate mRNA translation. Translational control of gene expression is considered as a critical effector in cancer biology, representing a highly promising area of research. Here, we report that Hexokinase 2 (HK2), a glucose kinase that catalyzes the first step of glycolysis at the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), is an RNA-binding protein (RBP) that regulates mRNA translation in melanoma cell lines. Polysome profiling experiments fol

SUBMITTER: Dian AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12494293 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature