Cancer cell metabolism: there is no ROS for the weary.

Using a high-throughput short-hairpin RNA library screen targeting 222 metabolic nodes, Ros and colleagues identified 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 4 (PFKFB4), a glycolytic enzyme that shunts glucose into the pentose phosphate pathway for NADPH production, as a critical node for the survival of prostate cancer cells. Blocking PFKFB4 induces reactive oxygen species and cancer cell death, suggesting that PFKFB4 could be therapeutically targeted.