Targeting mitochondria for cancer therapy

Simone Fulda, Lorenzo Galluzzi, Guido Kroemer

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

1433 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mitochondria are the cells' powerhouse, but also their suicidal weapon store. Dozens of lethal signal transduction pathways converge on mitochondria to cause the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane, leading to the cytosolic release of pro-apoptotic proteins and to the impairment of the bioenergetic functions of mitochondria. The mitochondrial metabolism of cancer cells is deregulated owing to the use of glycolytic intermediates, which are normally destined for oxidative phosphorylation, in anabolic reactions. Activation of the cell death machinery in cancer cells by inhibiting tumour-specific alterations of the mitochondrial metabolism or by stimulating mitochondrial membrane permeabilization could therefore be promising therapeutic approaches.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)447-464
Number of pages18
JournalNature Reviews Drug Discovery
Volume9
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2010
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Targeting mitochondria for cancer therapy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this