| Research Abstract |
To understand the tumor specific energy metabolisms in a molecular level, we carried out the following studies.
1) know the molecular mechanisms of the transcriptional activation of type II hexokinase gene during carcinogenesis, we analyzed its transcript level under various conditions. As a result, the transcript levels both of HKII and GLUT1 were found to be markedly elevated by low concentration of oxygen. Involvements oftranscriptional factor HIF in the induction of many low oxygen inducible genes are reported. Now we are studying the possible involvement of HIF in the transcriptional control of HKII and GLUT1 during carcinogenesis.
2) to understand the enzyme characteristics of HKII,we made and characte-rized various recombinant proteins. As a result, we succeeded to identify the region which confer sensitivity for glucose-6-phosphate.
3) to understand the physiological meanings of the binding of HKII to mitochondria, we studied the chracteristics of the mt-bound HKII.As a result, binding of HKII to the mitochondrial membrane was found to be very important in the regulatiou of cross talk between oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis.
|
