The expression of PKM1 and PKM2 in developing, benign, and cancerous prostatic tissues

Sep 21, 2026

Background: Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPCa) is highly aggressive, and its energy metabolism has not been well characterized. PKM, a key glycolysis enzyme, has two splice isoforms, PKM1 and PKM2, whose expression pattern in NEPCa remains unclear. Methods: Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining, and bioinformatics analysis were used to assess PKM1/PKM2 expression in mouse and human prostatic tissues. Results: PKM2 predominated across development and PCa progression, with reduced levels in murine NEPCa. PKM1 mainly appeared in stromal cells, was absent in most adenocarcinoma samples, but detected in subsets of NEPCa, alongside altered mRNA levels of PKM isoforms. Conclusion: The study defines isoform-specific metabolic expression across prostate stages and supports understanding metabolic changes in PCa subtypes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methods

Results

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TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 12 April 2024 DOI 10.3389/fonc.2024.1392085 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Benyi Li, University of Kansas Medical Center, United States REVIEWED BY Zongbing You, Tulane University, United States Wang Liu, University of Kansas Medical Center, United States Xiaolin Zi, University of California, Irvine, United States *CORRESPONDENCE Xiuping Yu [xiuping.yu@lsuhs.edu](xiuping.yu@lsuhs.edu) RECEIVED 26 February 2024 ACCEPTED 27 March 2024 PUBLISHED 12 April 2024 CITATION Li L, Cheng S, Yeh Y, Shi Y, Henderson N, Price D, Gu X and Yu X (2024) The expression of PKM1 and PKM2 in developing, benign, and cancerous prostatic tissues. Front. Oncol. 14:1392085 . doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1392085 COPYRIGHT © 2024 Li, Cheng, Yeh, Shi, Henderson, Price, Gu and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. The expression of PKM1 and PKM2 in developing, benign, and cancerous prostatic tissues Lin Li 1,2, Siyuan Cheng 1,2, Yunshin Yeh 3, Yingli Shi 1,2, Nikayla Henderson 1, David Price 4, Xin Gu 5 and Xiuping Yu 1,2,4* 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, United States, 2 Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, United States, 3 Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service, Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Shreveport, LA, United States, 4 Department of Urology, LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, United States, 5 Department of Pathology, LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, United States Background: Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPCa) is the most aggressive type of prostate cancer (PCa) . However, energy metabolism, one of the hallmarksof cancer, in NEPCa has not been well studied. Pyruvate kinase M (PKM), which catalyzes the ﬁnal step of glycolysis, has two main splicing isoforms, PKM1 and PKM2 . The expression pattern of PKM1 and PKM2 in NEPCa remains unknown. Methods: In this study, we used immunohistochemistry, immunoﬂuorescence staining, and bioinformatics analysis to examine the expression of PKM1 and PKM2 in mouse and human prostatic tissues. Results: We found that PKM2 was the predominant isoform expressed throughout prostate development and PCa progression, with slightly reduced expression in murine NEPCa. PKM1 was mostly expressed in stromal cells but low-level PKM1 was also detected in prostate basal epithelial cells. Its expression was absent in the majority of prostate adenocarcinoma (AdPCa) specimens but present in a subset of NEPCa. Additionally, we evaluated the mRNA levels of ten PKM isoforms that express exon 9 (PKM1-like) or exon 10 (PKM2-like) . Some of these isoforms showed notable expression levels in PCa cell lines and human PCa specimens. Discussion: Our study characterized the expression pattern of PKM1 and PKM2 in prostatic tissues including developing, benign, and cancerous prostate. These ﬁndings lay the groundwork for understanding the metabolic changes in different PCa subtypes. KEYWORDS PKM1, PKM2, neuroendocrine, prostate cancer, metabolism Frontiers in Oncology 01 [frontiersin.org](frontiersin.org) 1 Introduction Human prostate is a male reproductive accessory gland. It comprises multiple cell types, including luminal epithelial, basal epithelial, and stromal cells (1). Prostate cancer (PCa), the most prevalent cancer among American men, typically originates from luminal epithelial cells, leading to prostate adenocarcinoma (AdPCa)(2, 3) . Androgen deprivation th

FAQs

What are PKM1 and PKM2 in the context of prostate cancer metabolism?

PKM1 and PKM2 are splice isoforms of pyruvate kinase M, an enzyme catalyzing the final step of glycolysis. The study focuses on how their expression relates to energy metabolism during prostate development and cancer progression.

How was PKM1/PKM2 expression measured in mouse and human tissues?

Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining were used to examine protein expression, and bioinformatics analysis supported evaluation of expression patterns in prostatic tissues.

What expression pattern was observed for PKM1 and PKM2 across benign and cancerous prostate stages?

PKM2 was predominant throughout prostate development and PCa progression, with slightly reduced expression in murine NEPCa. PKM1 was mainly expressed in stromal cells, was largely absent in most adenocarcinoma specimens, but present in a subset of NEPCa.

Sep 21, 2026

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