ENTPD5 supports cancer growth by promoting the import of UDP-glucose, a metabolite used for protein glycosylation and hence proper glycoprotein folding, into the ER by providing the counter molecule, UMP, to the ER antiporter.
Several studies analyzed the expression of NTPDase5/mt-PCPH in a wide range of tumor cells and evaluated its role and mechanisms in cancer and other pathogenic processes.
Recently, the endoplasmic reticulum UDPase, ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 5 (ENTPD5), was identified as a key component in the Akt/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/phosphatase and tensin homolog regulatory loop, capable of synergizing aerobic glycolysis and cancer cell proliferation in vitro.
Our previous studies on the involvement of PCPH in human cancer showed that human breast tumor cell lines have frequent alterations in PCPH, including multiple PCPH polypeptide forms that are not expressed in normal cells.