Many cancers, including multiple myeloma (MM), retain more cytosolic iron to promote tumor cell growth and drug resistance. Higher cytosolic iron promotes oxidative damage due to its interaction with reactive oxygen species generated by mitochondria. The variation of mitochondrial biogenesis in different stages of MM disease was evaluated using gene expression profiles in a large clinical dataset. Sixteen of 18mitochondrial biogenesis related gene sets, including mitochondrial biogenesis signature and oxidative phosphorylation, were increased in myeloma cells compared with normal plasma cells and high expression was associated with an inferior patient outcome. Relapsed and drug resistant myeloma samples had higher expression of mitochondrial biogenesis signatures than newly diagnosed patient samples. The expression of mitochondrial biogenesis genes was regulated by the cellular iron content, which showed a synergistic effect in patient outcome in MM. Pharmacological ascorbic acid induced myeloma cell death by inhibition of mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation in an in vivo model. Here, we identify that dysregulated mitochondrial biogenesis and iron homeostasis play a major role in myeloma progression and patient outcome and that pharmacological ascorbic acid, through cellular iron content and mitochondrial oxidative species, should be considered as a novel treatment in myeloma including drug-resistant and relapsed patients.
Keywords: disease progression; iron; mitochondria biogenesis; multiple myeloma.