Size-Specific Modulation of a Multienzyme Glucosome Assembly during the Cell Cycle

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Biochemistry
• Metabolic Regulation

Background:

• Enzymes in glucose metabolism are crucial for cell cycle progression.
• Measuring enzyme activity in living human cells during the cell cycle is challenging.
• Subcellular regulation of glucose metabolism to meet cell cycle demands remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between glucose metabolism and cell cycle progression in human cells.
• To explore how human cells regulate glucose metabolism at a subcellular level during the cell cycle.
• To characterize the role of multienzyme metabolic assemblies (glucosomes) in regulating glucose flux.

Main Methods:

• Cell synchronization and flow cytometry were used to monitor glucose metabolism.
• Enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged phosphofructokinase served as an intracellular biomarker.
• Fluorescence single-cell imaging was employed to analyze glucosome size dynamics.

Main Results:

• Phosphofructokinase activity effectively tracks glucose metabolism state during the cell cycle.
• Glucosome size distribution significantly changes throughout the cell cycle in Hs578T cells.
• Medium-sized glucosomes are elevated in the G1 phase, while small-sized glucosomes show drastic changes.

Conclusions:

• Glucosome size modulation is a key mechanism regulating glucose flux between glycolysis and biosynthesis.
• Size-specific modulation of glucosomes links glucose metabolism to cell cycle progression.
• This provides insight into the metabolic significance of glucose metabolism in human cell biology.