THE WARBURG EFFECT: A POSSIBLE ROLE OF CAP INDEPENDENT TRANSLATION

Cancer is a complex multistep process involving tremendous changes at molecular and cellular properties of a cancerous cell. One of the main characteristics associated with the tumor cells include preferential use of glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to meet the high energy needs. This process is observed even in the presence of ample oxygen to fuel mitochondrial respiration and is considered to be the root cause of tumor growth and a potential hallmark of cancer. It has been found that tumor cells shows increased glycolytic capacity than normal cells and produce lactate rather than pyruvate in the process. During cancers, the expression levels of glycolytic enzymes are increased and different mechanisms like increased transcription or altered post-translational regulation has been proposed. Since hypoxia is a well known model in cancers and therefore role of capindependent translation cannot be ignored. Furthermore, elucidation of the underlying reasons behind the increased expression of glycolytic enzymes in cancer will help us to better understand and cure cancer. This review focuses on the possible role of cap independent translation in mediating increased expression of glycolytic enzymes in cancers. Key word: Cancer, Warburg Effect, glycolytic enzymes, Cap independent translation, hypoxia