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Aerobic glycolysis comes with an enzyme cost but robustness gain

The rate of ATP production and the total mass of enzymes were quantified for both glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration to determine the proteome efficiency of these pathways. Per unit of enzyme mass, mitochondrial respiration generates energy faster than glycolysis and is thus more proteome efficient. Despite being less proteome efficient, constitutive glycolysis comes with the benefit of rendering cells robust to hypoxia.

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Fig. 1: Proteome efficiency of glycolysis versus respiration.

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This is a summary of: Shen, Y. et al. Mitochondrial ATP generation is more proteome efficient than glycolysis. Nat. Chem. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01571-y (2024).

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Aerobic glycolysis comes with an enzyme cost but robustness gain. Nat Chem Biol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01581-w

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