The glycolytic process in endothelial cells and its implications

Abstract

Endothelial cells play an obligatory role in regulating local vascular tone and maintaining homeostasis in vascular biology. Cell metabolism, converting food to energy in organisms, is the primary self-sustaining mechanism for cell proliferation and reproduction, structure maintenance, and fight-or-flight responses to stimuli. Four major metabolic processes take place in the energy-producing process, including glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, glutamine metabolism, and fatty acid oxidation. Among them, glycolysis is the primary energy-producing mechanism in endothelial cells. The present review focused on glycolysis in endothelial cells under both physiological and pathological conditions. Since the switches among metabolic processes precede the functional changes and disease developments, some prophylactic and/or therapeutic strategies concerning the role of glycolysis in cardiovascular disease are discussed.

Integrative metabolomic and proteomic signatures define clinical outcomes in severe COVID-19

“…In a second vascular-related module, we found that cathepsin D (CTSD), a lysosomal protease known to disrupt endothelial cell junctions and increase vasopermeability, was associated with a group of glycolytic metabolites including D-glucose, glycerol-3-phosphate, and lactic acid (Monickaraj et al, 2018). Notably, increased vascular permeability and glycolysis are known features of a pro-angiogenic state (Leung and Shi, 2021). Although dysregulated angiogenesis occurs in COVID-19 patients (Ackermann et al, 2020), how these events are coordinated remains poorly understood.…”

Endothelial Cell Metabolism in Vascular Functions

“…Due to the strategic positioning of the endothelium, ECs have earned a front-row seat to interact with blood, the largest source of oxygen and nutrients in the body [107]. From a metabolic viewpoint, ECs are largely glycolytic [54,106,108,109], that is, they do not take advantage of this ready-to-use bulk of oxygen to fuel the Krebs' cycle and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). In fact, ECs retrieve more than 85% of their energetic needs from glycolysis, while only a small amount of pyruvate generated during this process is used to fuel OXPHOS, whose rate has been estimated to be about 200-fold lower than glycolysis in human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) [54,106].…”

PTSD as an Endothelial Disease: Insights From COVID-19

“…In response to stressors, cells undergo senescence, a state of proliferation arrest and active metabolism fueled primarily by glycolysis-derived lactate (Wiley and Campisi, 2016). Interestingly, under normal circumstances, ECs obtain over 80% of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from lactate despite oxygen availability (Warburg effect), probably explaining the SARS-CoV-2 predilection for these cells (Sabbatinelli et al, 2019;Leung and Shi, 2021). Indeed, as senescent ECs upregulate lactate even more than their younger counterparts, they engender an optimal environment for viral replication (Schmid et al, 2007;Wong et al, 2017).…”