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Increased glycolysis has been one of the metabolic characteristics known as the Warburg effect. The functional and therapeutic importance of the Warburg effect in targeted therapy is scientifically recognized and the glucose metabolic pathway has become a desirable target of anticancer strategies. Glucose transporters (GLUTs) play an important role in cancer glycolysis to sustain cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and survival. Utilizing the knowledge of differential expression and biological functions of GLUTs offers us the possibility of designing and delivering chemotherapeutics toward targeted tumor tissues for improved cancer selectivity. Inhibition of glucose uptake or glycolysis may effectively kill hypoxic cancer cells. Facilitative drug uptake via active transportation provides the potential opportunity to circumvent the drug resistance in chemotherapy. GLUTs as the hallmarks and biotargets of cancer metabolism enable the design and development of novel targeted theranostic agents. In this updated review, we examine the current scenario of the GLUTs as strategic targets in cancer and the unique concepts for discovery and development of GLUTs-targeted anticancer agents. We highlight the recent progresses on structural biology and underlying mechanism studies of GLUTs, with a brief introduction to the computational approaches in GLUT-mediated drug transport and tumor targeting.

Methyl 6-aminodeoxy-d-pyranoside-derived platinum(II) glycoconjugates were designed and synthesized based on the clinical drug oxaliplatin for glucose transporter (GLUT)-mediated tumor targeting. In addition to a substantial improvement in water solubility, the conjugates exhibited cytotoxicity similar to or higher than that of oxaliplatin in six different human cancer cell lines. GLUT-mediated transport of the complexes was investigated with a cell-based fluorescence competition assay and GLUT-inhibitor-mediated cytotoxicity analysis in a GLUT-overexpressing human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29) cell line. The antitumor effect of the aminodeoxypyranoside-conjugated platinum(II) complexes was found to depend significantly on the GLUT inhibitor, and the cellular uptake of the molecules was regulated by GLUT-mediated transport. The results from this study demonstrate the potential advantages of aminodeoxypyranosides as sugar motifs for glycoconjugation for Warburg-effect-targeted drug design. These fundamental results also support the potential of aminodeoxypyranoside-conjugated platinum(II) complexes as lead compounds for further preclinical evaluation.

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The biomedical application of corannulene 𝝅-bowls is historically limited by low solubility and bioavailability despite the potential in their unique electronic properties for new functional materials. Herein, the unexpected role and molecular mechanism of Corranulene 𝝅-bowls are uncovered in biomedical applications as an effective anticancer agent for Warburg effect mediated selective tumor targeting. The corannulene triazolyl monosaccharides Cor-sugars exhibit highly potent cytotoxicity against human cancer cells and effectively inhibit xenograft growth of hyperglycolytic tumors. Particularly, the galactose-conjugated Cor-gal exhibits superior in vivo anticancer efficacy in A549 tumor models with outstanding safety profile compared to doxorubicin. Moreover, the combined treatment of Cor-gal with immune checkpoint inhibitor results in an effective synergy in treating H460 human lung carcinoma. An uptake mechanism study reveals that Cor-sugars exploit tumor-specific glucose transporter glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) for targeted cell delivery and intra-tumoral accumulation through the cancer-specific Warburg effect. Their significant anticancer activity is attributed to multiphasic DNA-binding and cell cycle alteration effects. This study uncovers new molecular properties of corannulene buckybowl and enabling their potential new applications in biomedical engineering.