Mitochondria have long been known as the tiny organelles that act as the battery packs inside our cells while also serving as internal sensors and communicators. But relatively little is understood about how their energy-producing activities in soupy cellular interiors impacts metastatic cancer, which occurs when cancerous cells spread in the body. Now, collaborative research co-led by Dr.
Julie St-Pierre's lab at the Faculty of Medicine sheds new light on the mysteries of mitochondrial dynamics and its likely role in the metastatic progression of breast cancer—the most commonly-diagnosed cancer in women across the globe. Shapeshifting mitochondria continually fuse and divide, but precisely how those dynamics influence metastatic progression has intrigued scientists. In the work published in Science Advances , the uOttawa-led team puts forth compelling evidence that promoting mitochondrial elongation in cancer cells hobbles their ability to metastasize.
The team's insights will certainly be of deep interest to scientists studying mitochondrial dynamics and a range of cancers. Further, this discovery may eventually uncover a therapeutic opportunity for halting breast cancer progression. "Our results suggest that inducing a fused mitochondrial network in breast cancer cells limits their ability to metastasize.
This is exciting because metastasis is the main cause of death in patients with cancer," says Dr. St-Pierre, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and uOttawa's Interim .