Transferred Mitochondria Accumulate Energy for Cancer Cells

(CONNECT) Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) have decoded a mechanism that enables cancer cells to transfer their mitochondria to healthy neighboring cells, according to a press release. The mitochondria are cell components that are responsible for the energy balance of cells by producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

The team led by cell biologists Sabine Werner and Michael Cankrama showed that mitochondria from cancer-infected fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) enter healthy cells via nanotunnels. The transfer was detected with fluorescent mitochondria. The mitochondria transferred in this way reprogram the cells into tumor-associated fibroblasts via a co-transferred RNA. More ATP is produced in these cells than in healthy cells, thus stimulating the growth of cancer cells. In the investigations, the researchers found that the MIRO2 protein promotes the transfer process. "This protein is produced very strongly in those cancer cells that transfer their mitochondria," research leader Sabine Werner is quoted as saying in the press release. "We were therefore able to detect MIRO2 exactly where we suspected it to be," adds Michael Cangkrama, first author of the study published in Nature Cancer.

The process was observed in both in vitro and in vivo experiments on mice.

According to the researchers, blocking the MIRO2 protein could curb mitochondrial transfer and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. Therapeutic approaches could be found here not only for skin cancer, but also for breast or pancreatic cancer, for example. ce/ww