Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (Arnt) belongs to bHLH-PAS protein family. Here, we study the role of Arnt in both cell growth and glucose metabolism. Our results demonstrated that the absence of Arnt does affect ATP homeostasis but not cell growth in monolayer-cultured mouse hepatoma cells. ATP level of Arnt defective BpRc1 hepatoma cells is less than that of wild type hepatoma cells in both normoxia and hypoxia. BpRc1 cells also fail to increase the expression of glycolytic enzymes in response to hypoxia. Our results suggest that Arnt is essential for glucose metabolism and ATP production but not for cell growth.