Glucose metabolism

The brain is one of the metabollically most active organs of the human body. Although the brain contributes only up to 2% to the body mass, about 20% of the glucose and the oxygen consumed by the body are used in the human brain, mainly to support energy-requiring membrane transport processes. The main substrate for ATP production in brain is glucose which is delivered via the blood stream to the brain. By using primary cultures of brain cells we are investigating the glycolytic flux of glucose as well as the modulation of glycolytic lactate production by drugs and toxins that affect glycolysis and/or mitochondrial functions.