The metabolic enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) was recently shown to have protein kinase activity, and Keller et al. now report that the metabolite SAICAR, which is found in proliferating cells, binds to PKM2 and induces its kinase activity. Moreover, they found that more than 100 proteins are phosphorylated by PKM2–SAICAR, including ERK1 and ERK2, indicating that PKM2 connects metabolism with proliferation.
References
Keller, K. E. et al. SAICAR induces protein kinase activity of PKM2 that is necessary for sustained proliferative signaling of cancer cells. Mol. Cell 53, 700–709 (2014)
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Alderton, G. Connecting metabolism and proliferation. Nat Rev Cancer 14, 215 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3718
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3718
