Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase: a therapeutic target for ovarian cancer

ABSTRACTIntroduction Ovarian cancer (OC) is a gynecological tumor disease, which is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and has a poor prognosis. It has been established that the glucose metabolism rate of cancer cells is significantly higher than that of normal cells, and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is an important branch pathway for glucose metabolism. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is the key rate-limiting enzyme in the PPP, which plays an important role in the initiation and development of cancer (such as OC), and has been considered as a promisinganti-cancer target.Areas covered In this review, based on the structure and biological function of G6PD, recent research on the roles of G6PD in the progression, metastasis, and chemoresistance of OC are summarized and accompanied by proposed molecular mechanisms, which may provide a systematic understanding of targeting G6PD for the treatment of patients with OC.Expert opinion Accumulating evidence demonstrates that G6PD is a promising target of cancer. The development of G6PD inhibitors for cancer treatment merits broad application prospects.KEYWORDS: Chemotherapy drug resistanceG6PDmetastasisovarian cancerPPP Article highlights Ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis and is usually detected at an advanced stage. Chemoresistance of OC has become a major problem.G6PD is a key rate-limiting enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway and plays a critical role in the initiation and development of cancer.G6PD is overexpressed in platinum- and Taxol-resistant cells with higher activity.G6PD is a promising target for OC since it is associated with the growth, metastasis and chemoresistance of OC.Declaration of interestsThe authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.Reviewer disclosuresPeer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.Additional informationFundingThis manuscript was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (21JCZDJC00060), National Nature Science Foundation of China (81973356 and 82273963), the Open Fund of Tianjin Central Hospital of Gynecology Obstetrics/Tianjin Key Laboratory of human development and reproductive regulation (2020XHY02 to C Shan).