Glucose metabolism provide distinct prosurvival benefits to non-small cell lung carcinomas

Heterogeneity within the same tumor type has been described to be complex and occur at multiple levels. Less is known about the heterogeneity at the level of metabolism, within a tumor set, yet metabolic pathways are highly relevant to survival signaling in tumors. In this study, we profiled the glucose metabolism of several non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cell lines and could show that, NSCLC display distinct glycolytic metabolism. Genetic and pharmacological perturbation of glycolysis was selectively toxic to NSCLCs with high rates of glycolysis. Furthermore, high expression of hexokinase-2, localized at the mitochondria, was a feature of the NSCLCs dependent on glucose catabolism. Our study provides evidence for quantitative metabolic diversity in NSCLCs and indicates that glucose metabolism provide differential prosurvival benefits to NSCLCs.