PI3K therapy reprograms mitochondrial trafficking to fuel tumor cell invasion

Abstract

Despite the promise of personalized cancer medicine, most molecular therapies produce only modest and short-lived patient gains. In addition to drug resistance, it is also possible that tumors adaptively reprogram their signaling pathways to evade therapy-induced “stress” and, in the process, acquire more aggressive disease traits. We show here that small-molecule inhibitors of PI3K, a cancer node and important therapeutic target, induce transcriptional and signaling reprogramming in tumors. This involves the trafficking of energetically active mitochondria to subcellular sites of cell motility, where they provide a potent, “regional” energy source to support tumor cell invasion. Although this response may paradoxically increase the risk of metastasis during PI3K therapy, targeting mitochondrial reprogramming is feasible, and could provide a novel therapeutic strategy.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 29, 2015
Source ID
10.1073/pnas.1500722112

Entities

People

  • Alice Faversani
  • Andrew V Kossenkov
  • Ashani T. Weeraratna
  • Dario C Altieri
  • Dayana B. Rivadeneira
  • Jagadish C. Ghosh
  • Katherine M Aird
  • Lucia R. Languino
  • M Cecilia Caino
  • Marie R. Webster
  • Paolo Rampini
  • Rugang Zhang
  • Silvano Bosari
  • Valentina Vaira
  • Young Chan Chae

Organizations

  • Milan Polyclinic
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • Thomas Jefferson University
  • University of Milan
  • Wistar Institute

Tags

Readers

  • Oncology (Cancer Research).
  • Prostate Cancer Biology.