Glucose Transporters

Glucose is an essential source of energy for mammalian cells, and is also used as a substrate in protein and lipid synthesis. Given its hydrophilic nature, glucose must be transported into the cell by dedicated transporters; these are encoded by genes known collectively as the facilitative glucose transporter gene family (GLUT). There are 13 known members of the GLUT family.

Glucose transporters maintain a ready supply of glucose for the cell's metabolic activity. During growth and division, the energy demands of a cell are increased; it needs glucose to generate ATP and biomass. Cancer cells, which proliferate at a greater rate, thus require more energy than a normal cell. Aerobic glycolysis - often observed in tumor cells, and also known as the Warburg effect - relies on a high rate of glucose uptake, since the generation of ATP by this process is far less efficient than oxidative phosphorylation. Glucose transporters, in particular GLUT1, have therefore become a target of interest in cancer research, as have glycolytic inhibitors.

External sources of pharmacological information for Glucose Transporters :

• BJP Guide

Literature for Glucose Transporters

Tocris offers the following scientific literature for Glucose Transporters to showcase our products. We invite you to request* your copy today!

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Cancer Research Product Guide

A collection of over 750 products for cancer research, the guide includes research tools for the study of:

• Cancer Metabolism
• Epigenetics in Cancer
• Receptor Signaling
• Cell Cycle and DNA Damage Repair
• Angiogenesis
• Invasion and Metastasis

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Glucose Transporter Gene Data