TKT regulates the pentose phosphate pathway via RBKS to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition during AML progression

Feifan Li; Jiaqi Liu; Yinghua Geng; Lin Liu; Jun Li; Lianfang Pu; Zhongli Hu; Yanli Yang

doi:10.1007/s10863-025-10064-z

TKT regulates the pentose phosphate pathway via RBKS to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition during AML progression

J Bioenerg Biomembr. 2025 Jun 18. doi: 10.1007/s10863-025-10064-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Feifan Li^#¹, Jiaqi Liu^#², Yinghua Geng³, Lin Liu³, Jun Li³, Lianfang Pu³, Zhongli Hu³, Yanli Yang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Graduate Department, Bengbu Medical University, 2600 Donghai Avenue, Bengbu, Anhui Province, 233030, China.
² Clinical Medical College, Bengbu Medical University, 2600 Donghai Avenue, Bengbu, Anhui Province, 233030, China.
³ Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University, 287 Changhuai Road, Bengbu, Anhui Province, 233004, China.
⁴ Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University, 287 Changhuai Road, Bengbu, Anhui Province, 233004, China. Yangyanli0702@126.com.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 40531362
DOI: 10.1007/s10863-025-10064-z

Abstract

Acute myeloid leukemia is a life-threaten disease. Researches have indicated that increased expression of TKT was closely related to the progression of malignant tumors. However, the mechanism of TKT in the pathogenesis of AML need to be further elucidated. Here, we showed that the expression levels of TKT was increased in AML patients and AML cells. TKT overexpression in AML cells significantly promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of cells while TKT knockdown had opposite effects. Mechanistically. We proved that TKT was located on up-stream of RBKS and TKT promoted the growth of AML cells through RBKS. In addition, our data indicated that TKT regulates the pentose phosphate pathway via RBKS. Notably, we demonstrated that the pentose phosphate pathway is crucial for EMT program in AML cells. Taken together, this study identified the molecular mechanism by which TKT promotes AML progression, namely, TKT promotes EMT by regulating the pentose phosphate pathway through RBKS. Our results suggest that TKT maybe a novel therapeutic target for AML treatment.

Keywords: AML; EMT; PPP; RBKS; TKT.