Chemotherapy Resistance: Role of Mitochondrial and Autophagic Components

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Cancer chemotherapy resistance is one of the most critical obstacles in cancer therapy. One of the well-known mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance is the change in the mitochondrial death pathways which occur when cells are under stressful situations, such as chemotherapy. Mitophagy, or mitochondrial selective autophagy, is critical for cell quality control because it can efficiently break down, remove, and recycle defective or damaged mitochondria. As cancer cells use mitophagy to rapidly sweep away damaged mitochondria in order to mediate their own drug resistance, it influences the efficacy of tumor chemotherapy as well as the degree of drug resistance. Yet despite the importance of mitochondria and mitophagy in chemotherapy resistance, little is known about the precise mechanisms involved. As a consequence, identifying potential therapeutic targets by analyzing the signal pathways that govern mitophagy has become a vital research goal. In this paper, we review recent advances in mitochondrial research, mitophagy control mechanisms, and their implications for our understanding of chemotherapy resistance.

Related collections

Most cited references 571

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

AMPK and mTOR regulate autophagy through direct phosphorylation of Ulk1.

Joungmok Kim, Mondira Kundu, Benoit Viollet … (2011)

Autophagy is a process by which components of the cell are degraded to maintain essential activity and viability in response to nutrient limitation. Extensive genetic studies have shown that the yeast ATG1 kinase has an essential role in autophagy induction. Furthermore, autophagy is promoted by AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is a key energy sensor and regulates cellular metabolism to maintain energy homeostasis. Conversely, autophagy is inhibited by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a central cell-growth regulator that integrates growth factor and nutrient signals. Here we demonstrate a molecular mechanism for regulation of the mammalian autophagy-initiating kinase Ulk1, a homologue of yeast ATG1. Under glucose starvation, AMPK promotes autophagy by directly activating Ulk1 through phosphorylation of Ser 317 and Ser 777. Under nutrient sufficiency, high mTOR activity prevents Ulk1 activation by phosphorylating Ulk1 Ser 757 and disrupting the interaction between Ulk1 and AMPK. This coordinated phosphorylation is important for Ulk1 in autophagy induction. Our study has revealed a signalling mechanism for Ulk1 regulation and autophagy induction in response to nutrient signalling.

0 comments Cited 1369 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

How mitochondria produce reactive oxygen species

Michael P. Murphy (2008)

The production of ROS (reactive oxygen species) by mammalian mitochondria is important because it underlies oxidative damage in many pathologies and contributes to retrograde redox signalling from the organelle to the cytosol and nucleus. Superoxide (O2 •−) is the proximal mitochondrial ROS, and in the present review I outline the principles that govern O2 •− production within the matrix of mammalian mitochondria. The flux of O2 •− is related to the concentration of potential electron donors, the local concentration of O2 and the second-order rate constants for the reactions between them. Two modes of operation by isolated mitochondria result in significant O2 •− production, predominantly from complex I: (i) when the mitochondria are not making ATP and consequently have a high Δp (protonmotive force) and a reduced CoQ (coenzyme Q) pool; and (ii) when there is a high NADH/NAD+ ratio in the mitochondrial matrix. For mitochondria that are actively making ATP, and consequently have a lower Δp and NADH/NAD+ ratio, the extent of O2 •− production is far lower. The generation of O2 •− within the mitochondrial matrix depends critically on Δp, the NADH/NAD+ and CoQH2/CoQ ratios and the local O2 concentration, which are all highly variable and difficult to measure in vivo. Consequently, it is not possible to estimate O2 •− generation by mitochondria in vivo from O2 •−-production rates by isolated mitochondria, and such extrapolations in the literature are misleading. Even so, the description outlined here facilitates the understanding of factors that favour mitochondrial ROS production. There is a clear need to develop better methods to measure mitochondrial O2 •− and H2O2 formation in vivo, as uncertainty about these values hampers studies on the role of mitochondrial ROS in pathological oxidative damage and redox signalling.

0 comments Cited 1251 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS-induced ROS release.

Dmitry Zorov, Magdalena Juhaszova, Steven J. Sollott (2014)

Byproducts of normal mitochondrial metabolism and homeostasis include the buildup of potentially damaging levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), Ca(2+), etc., which must be normalized. Evidence suggests that brief mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) openings play an important physiological role maintaining healthy mitochondria homeostasis. Adaptive and maladaptive responses to redox stress may involve mitochondrial channels such as mPTP and inner membrane anion channel (IMAC). Their activation causes intra- and intermitochondrial redox-environment changes leading to ROS release. This regenerative cycle of mitochondrial ROS formation and release was named ROS-induced ROS release (RIRR). Brief, reversible mPTP opening-associated ROS release apparently constitutes an adaptive housekeeping function by the timely release from mitochondria of accumulated potentially toxic levels of ROS (and Ca(2+)). At higher ROS levels, longer mPTP openings may release a ROS burst leading to destruction of mitochondria, and if propagated from mitochondrion to mitochondrion, of the cell itself. The destructive function of RIRR may serve a physiological role by removal of unwanted cells or damaged mitochondria, or cause the pathological elimination of vital and essential mitochondria and cells. The adaptive release of sufficient ROS into the vicinity of mitochondria may also activate local pools of redox-sensitive enzymes involved in protective signaling pathways that limit ischemic damage to mitochondria and cells in that area. Maladaptive mPTP- or IMAC-related RIRR may also be playing a role in aging. Because the mechanism of mitochondrial RIRR highlights the central role of mitochondria-formed ROS, we discuss all of the known ROS-producing sites (shown in vitro) and their relevance to the mitochondrial ROS production in vivo. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.