Glucose metabolism and bladder cancer.

Abstract

359 Background: To understand and evaluate the role of glucose metabolism in bladder cancer growth, in the identification of disease, and development of potential treatment strategies. Methods: UMUC3, T24 and 253JBV cells were grown in varying glucose concentrations (25, 100 and 200mg/dl) and cell proliferation assay with Vi-Cell was performed. Next, we used Qiagen PCR array of glucose metabolic pathway of the UMUC3 cell line under different glucose concentrations. PKM2 is a driver of glycolysis and exists in an inactive dimer or active tetramer. Dimer PKM2 also known as Tumor M2-PK was measured in urine samples of bladder cancer patients using a commercially available ELISA kit (ScheBo Biotech AG). Lastly, Shikonin, a PKM2 inhibitor was evaluated as an inhibitor of bladder cancer cell proliferation using Vi-Cell. Results: Increased glucose concentration 200mg/dl leads to increased proliferation in bladder cancer cells while decreased concentration of glucose; 25mg/dl reduces proliferation compared to control (100). PCR array demonstrates genes in the glycolytic pathway genes are upregulated in cells that are grown in 200mg/dl glucose media and the TCA cycle genes are upregulated in cells that are subjected to the 25mg/dl glucose media when compared to control (100mg/dl). The enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) controls the transition from the glycolytic pathway to TCA cycle. We have found that 9/10 (90%) of bladder cancer urine samples show elevated levels of tumor M2-PK (>104) compared to urine from two normal subjects (~30 units ) using a commercially available ELISA kit. Conclusions: Increased glucose concentration 200mg/dl leads to increased proliferation in bladder cancer cells while decreased concentration of glucose; 25mg/dl reduces proliferation compared to control (100).