Nerve-to-Cancer Transfer of Mitochondria During Cancer Metastasis

Nerve-to-cancer transfer of mitochondria during cancer metastasis

The nervous system has a pivotal role in cancer biology, and pathological investigations have linked intratumoural nerve density to metastasis1. However, the precise impact of cancer-associated neurons and the communication channels at the nerve–cancer interface remain poorly understood. Previous cancer denervation models in rodents and humans have highlighted robust cancer dependency on nerves, but the underlying mechanisms that drive nerve-med…

Neurons duped into delivering mitochondria to cancer cells found fueling tumor spread

University of South Alabama researchers report that neurons can transfer mitochondria directly to cancer cells, enhancing their metastatic potential.

Reviewing Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Aging

Mitochondria are power plants, hundreds of these organelles in every eukaryotic cell, descended from ancient symbiotic bacteria, and now repurposed to generate the chemical energy store molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that is used to power cell processes. Beneath this simple overview lies a very complex and incompletely understood biochemistry. Mitochondria influence many core cell processes, and are influenced in turn. The oxidative bypro…