HK2 and colorectal carcinoma: Constitutively activated Wnt signaling represents a central driver of CRC development: Wnt pathway activation induces the transcription of downstream targets such as c-Myc (23), which directly upregulates GLUT1 and hexokinase 2 (HK2) while repressing the transcription of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), thereby diverting pyruvate toward lactate production rather than the TCA cycle.