Otto Warburg spearheaded quantitative investigations of cancer cells metabolic rates, as well as photosynthesis as well as respiration. Warburg and colleagues displayed in the 1920s that, under cardio conditions, tumour cells metabolize roughly significantly much more glucose to lactate in an offered time than regular tissues, a sensation called the Warburg result. Nevertheless, this increase in aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells is often mistakenly believed to occur rather than mitochondrial respiration and has been misinterpreted as proof for damage to respiration instead of damages to the regulation of glycolysis. As a matter of fact, numerous cancers cells show the Warburg impact while retaining mitochondrial respiration. We re-examine Warburg's monitorings in regard to the existing ideas of cancer cells metabolic process as being intimately linked to changes of mitochondrial DNA, oncogenes and tumour suppressors, and also hence easily exploitable for cancer therapy.
Otto Warburg’s contributions to current concepts of cancer metabolism
Willem H. Koppenol*, Patricia L. Bounds* and Chi V. Dang‡