High glucose upregulates pantothenate kinase 4 (PanK4) and thus affects M2-type pyruvate kinase (Pkm2).

A new Rattus norvegicus PanK gene was isolated by mRNA differential display from high concentration glucose-stimulated rat, which encodes a human PanK4-like protein with KOG2201 and KOG4584 domain. Proteins that interact with rat PanK4 were identified by the application of the yeast two-hybrid system. One of the components, Pkm2, was found to be associated with rat PanK4 and its two domains under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Immunofluorescence staining and confocal scanning experiments showed that PanK4 could transiently co-express with Pkm2 in the cytoplasm of HeLa cell and HEK293T cell. These findings suggest that PanK4 interacts with Pkm2 and thereby may modulate the glucose metabolism through regulating the activity of Pkm2.