Tumor-specific pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 involved in biochemical strategy of energy generation in neoplastic cells.

The differences in properties of pyruvate kinase (EC 2.1.7.40) from normal tissues and animal or human tumors are described and their significance for various metabolic abnormalities is reviewed. The tumor variant gamma3 from M2 isoenzyme of pyruvate kinase sensitive to L-cysteine inhibition, when over-expressed, can be used as a marker of tumorigenic transformation. It seems that this variant represents a tumor-specific oncoprotein, involved in a novel metabolic strategy of energy generation during increased cell proliferation.