Pyruvate Kinase M2 Regulates Photoreceptor Neuroprotection

Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a glycolytic enzyme and transcription co-activator that is expressed in cancer cells. Its role in tumor metabolism is not definitively established, but investigators have suggested that regulation of PKM2 activity can cause accumulation of glycolytic intermediates and increase flux through the pentose phosphate pathway. Recent evidence suggests that PKM2 also may have non-metabolic functions, including as a transcriptional co-activator in gene regulation. We reported previously that PKM2 is abundant in photoreceptor cells in mouse retinas. In the present study, we conditionally deleted PKM2 (rod-cre PKM2-KO) in rod photoreceptors and studied how PKM2 gene expression in rods.