Fig. 1

Glucose metabolic classification of CTCs using PGK1/G6PD markers. a The role of PGK1 and G6PD in glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway. b The mRNA level of PGK1 and G6PD in the tissues of normal mammary and invasive BC patients (Curtis Breast dataset from Oncomine database), ***P < 0.001. c, d Survival curves on overall and relapse-free survival in BC patients (Kaplan–Meier plotter database) who had high- versus low- PGK1 (c) and G6PD (d). e The workflow of CTCs enrichment, identification, and metabolic classification. f The fluorescence signal of DAPI, CD45, PGK1/G6PD, and merged pattern to characterize metabolic subtypes of CTCs. Scale bar = 5 μm. G-6-P glucose-6-phosphate, 1,3-BPG 1,3-biphosphoglycerate, 3-PG 3-phosphoglycerate, LAC lactic acid, 6-PGDL 6-phosphogluconolactone, R-5-P ribose-5-phosphate