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The Warburg effect: molecular aspects and therapeutic possibilities

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Abstract

It has been about nine decades since the proposal of Otto Warburg on the metabolism of cancer cells. Unlike normal cells which undergo glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation in the presence of oxygen, proliferating and cancer cells exhibit an increased uptake of glucose and increased rate of glycolysis and predominantly undergo lactic acid fermentation. Whether this phenomenon is the consequence of genetic dysregulation in cancer or is the cause of cancer still remains unknown. However, there is certainly a strong link between the genetic factors, epigenetic modulation, cancer immunosurveillance and the Warburg effect, which will be discussed in this review. Dichloroacetate and 3-bromopyruvate are among the substances that have been studied as potential cancer therapies. With our expanding knowledge of cellular metabolism, therapies targeting the Warburg effect appear very promising. This review discusses different aspects of these emerging therapies.

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Acknowledgments

TCK is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship and the Epigenomic Medicine Laboratory is supported by McCord Research. Supported in part by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.

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  1. Epigenomic Medicine, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, The Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct, 75 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Hanh Ngo, Katherine Ververis & Tom C. Karagiannis

  2. Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Hanh Ngo, Katherine Ververis & Tom C. Karagiannis

  3. Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Stephanie M. Tortorella

  4. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Stephanie M. Tortorella

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Correspondence to Tom C. Karagiannis.

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Ngo, H., Tortorella, S.M., Ververis, K. et al. The Warburg effect: molecular aspects and therapeutic possibilities. Mol Biol Rep 42, 825–834 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-014-3764-7

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