Advances of relationship between protein O-GlcNAcylation and glucose metabolism in tumors

O-GlcNAcylation is the addition of a single N-acetylglucosamine(GlcNAc)moiety to the hydroxyl groups of serine or threonine residues of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. The transcription factors, kinases of the metabolic pathways and some cytoplasmic enzymes can be O-GlcNAcylated to affect cell transcription, signal transduction, cell metabolism and other biological functions. Abnormal glucose metabolism of tumors has been a hotspot in the research field of tumor pathogenesis and therapeutic targets recently. O-GlcNAclation regulates the glucose metabolism of tumor by affecting the activity of kinases in the metabolic pathway, which is closely associated with the abnormal glucose metabolism of tumor. The abnormal O-GlcNAcylation is one of the potential reasons of cancer. In this review, in order to provide a theoretical reference for developing anti-tumor targets and drugs targeting O-GlcNAc modification, we briefly summarized how O-GlcNAcylation regulated glucose metabolism on glucose metabolism, glucose uptake, glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle in cancer cell.