2-Deoxyglucose induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosisin colorectal cancer cells independent of its glycolysis inhibition.

2-Deoxyglucose (2DG) is an anticancer drug with excellent safety profile. Because of its higher dose requirements, its potential is yet to translate into a monotherapy. However, recently, 2DG has been tested as an adjunct in established chemotherapeutic regimens. 2DG enhanced the potency of several chemotherapeutic agents but not all. The rationale selection of known chemotherapeutic agents to use with 2DG is hampered because of the lack of complete understanding of mechanism behind 2DG anticancer effects. Although, 2DG is a well-known glycolytic inhibitor, which inhibits the key glycolytic enzyme hexokinase, its anticancer effects cannot be fully explained by this simplistic mechanism alone. In this article, we have shown for the first time that 2DG induced a transient expression of p21 and a continuous expression of p53 in colorectal cancer cells (SW620). The treatment also caused cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. The effects of 2DG on p21 and p53 protein levels were totally independent of its inhibitory effect on either hexokinase or ATP levels. Results from this study provides key insights into novel molecular mechanisms of 2DG and directs rational selection of other anticancer drugs to combine with 2DG in colorectal cancer treatment.