Glucose Metabolism

Cells, particularly in skeletal muscle and the liver, store excess glucose as the polysaccharide glycogen, and quickly catabolize it again when necessary. Glycolysis, the TCA cycle, and the pentose phosphate pathway break down glucose from carbohydrates into the metabolites necessary for energy production. Gluconeogenesis is the process of creating glucose from other metabolites. Glycogen synthesis and degradation is necessary to create and use energy stores. Dysregulation of genes involved in glucose metabolism is common in a number of pathological conditions. In cancer, tumors often show decreased oxidative phosphorylation, even in the presence of sufficient oxygen. This phenomenon is due to enhanced transcription of glycolytic genes and/or reduced transcription of TCA cycle genes. Furthermore, the pathological consequences of diabetes and obesity involve gene expression changes in glucose metabolic pathways.

QIAGEN provides a broad range of assay technologies for glucose metabolism research that enables analysis of gene expression and regulation, epigenetic modification, genotyping, and signal transduction pathway activation. Solutions optimized for glucose metabolism studies include PCR array, miRNA, siRNA, mutation analysis, pathway reporter, chromatin IP, DNA methylation, and protein expression products.