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Glycolytic Shift

Meaning

The glycolytic shift is a metabolic phenomenon where a cell dramatically increases its reliance on glycolysis, the anaerobic breakdown of glucose to pyruvate and lactate, for energy production, even in the presence of sufficient oxygen. This shift moves the cell’s primary ATP generation pathway from the highly efficient mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to the less efficient, yet faster, cytosolic pathway. It is a hallmark of rapidly proliferating cells, such as cancer cells, a process known as the Warburg effect.